Multiple cracking of fiber/matrix composites : analysis of normal extension

This paper is concerned with the fracture of a fiber embedded in a matrix of finite radius. There is a periodic array of cracks in the fiber along the central axis of the medium. The paper accounts for the cases of axial extension and residual temperature change of the composite medium. Fourier and Hankel transforms are used to reduce the problem to the solution of a system of dual integral equations, which are solved by the singular integral equation technique. Rigorous fracture mechanics analysis, which exactly satisfies all boundary conditions of the problem, is conducted. Numerical solutions for the crack tip field and the stress in the fiber are obtained for various values such as crack radius, crack spacing and fiber volume fraction.