Analysis of a high intensity shear zone between overlapping fiber ends in a polymer matrix composite

The formation of high intensity shear zones in a glass fiber reinforced thermoplast is studied numerically. The thermoplast is characterized by a finite strain elastic-viscoplastic constitutive relation and the calculations are carried out using a dynamic finite element program where plane strain conditions are assumed to prevail in the direction of the thickness. Different ratios of the elongation strain and the transverse strain are studied to consider the effect of different levels of stress triaxiality and the effect of these states on the shear zone development and emerging strain and stress concentrations. Comparing a case of embedded infinitely stiff fibers to a case with glass fiber reinforcement shows little difference thus illustrating that the glass fibers act approximately as infinitely stiff. Fiber spacing and fiber width are shown to influence the shear zones and the stress fields that develop as the highly deformed region approaches the limit resulting from network stiffening in the polymer. A simple analysis assuming periodicity is included in order to study the mechanical behaviour of the polymer matrix between fiber ends with long overlap.