Effects of anisotropic fiber packing on stresses in composites

A volume integral equation method (VIEM) is used to calculate the plane elastostatic field in an unbounded isotropic elastic medium containing multiple orthotropic cylindrical inclusions subject to remote loading. A detailed analysis of stress field at the interface between the matrix and the central orthotropic inclusion is carried out for square, hexagonal and random packing of the inclusions. The influence of a void on the interfacial stress field is analyzed using a modified form of the integral equation. The results for the random fibers are compared with those for the regular arrays. The methods are shown to be very accurate and effective for investigating the local stresses in composites containing anisotropic fibers.