Monte-Carlo simulation to the tensile mechanical behaviors of unidirectional composites at low temperature Original Research Article

This paper presents an analytical approach which combines the modified shear-lag model and the Monte-Carlo simulation technique to simulate numerically the mechanical behaviors including the failure processes, tensile stiffness and strength, etc. for unidirectional composites at room and low temperatures. Comparisons of the simulated results to the experimental data at 296 and 77 K are made. The results show that the tensile moduli and strengths at low temperatures are generally larger than those at room temperatures for carbon or glass fibre unidirectional composites, and they depend mainly on the properties of constituent materials and the status of interface at low temperature.