Parametric study of the contact stresses around spherical and cylindrical inclusions

Modelling of the bulk properties of composites, such as elastic moduli, can be performed with a good degree of accuracy in many situations. However, to be able to determine other properties of these materials, such as strength, it is necessary to develop a thorough understanding of the localised stress distributions. Previous studies have highlighted the significance of the localised stress distributions in the interfacial region [1,2]. Therefore, the purpose of the present work was to determine the interfacial stresses for a single fibre (i.e. plane strain) or particle (i.e. axisymmetric) in a matrix using the boundary element (BE) technique. The stress distributions have been examined as a function of: elastic moduli ratio, Poisson’s ratios, relative particle/matrix dimensions and interfacial conditions (contact friction coefficient). The results have been found to correlate well with the present authors’ finite element (FE) simulations. Also, comparisons of the results with analytical models and previous BE and FE analyses have generally shown good agreement, although inaccuracies in some of the previous numerical simulations have been found.