Photoelastic analysis of matrix crack-tilted fiber bundle interaction

Matrix crack-tilted fiber bundle interaction was explored using photoelasticity. First, the isochromatic fringe patterns near the matrix crack tip, either shielded by a tilted fiber bundle or crossed by a broken fiber bundle, were observed. Then, the stress intensity factors of cracks at varying distances from the tilted fiber bundle were extracted from the isochromatic fringe patterns. Finally, finite element simulation was conducted in ABAQUS software to verify the experimental results, and the difference between photoelasticity measurement and FEM simulation were discussed. The results show that the mode I stress intensity factor of the crack near a tilted fiber bundle increases with the increase of crack length and decreases with the increase of the Young's modulus of the fiber bundle. However, the mode II stress intensity factor, which clearly increases as crack length increased and, as opposed to mode I, increases as the Young's modulus of the fiber bundle increased.