Analytical modelling of the effect of morphological fluctuations on the transverse elastic behaviour of unidirectional fibre reinforced composites

This paper proposes to take into account the influence of some morphological fluctuations - often observed in unidirectional composite materials - on the modelling of the elastic behaviour of such materials. This work relies on a Generalized Self-Consistent Scheme coupled with a Morphologically Representative Pattern based approach. An analytical model is proposed to deal with "non-percolated" or trapped matrix regions. Closed-form analytical expressions are provided to investigate different kinds of morphological fluctuation effects on the effective transverse elastic behaviour. Finally some examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of this approach. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.