Open Access

ARTICLE

Elastic wave propagation in fiber reinforced composite materials with non-uniform distribution of fibers

by J.T. Verbis¹, S.V. Tsinopoulos², D. Polyzos²

1 Institute of Chemical Engineering and High Temperature Chemical Processes-FORTH, GR 26500, Patras, Greece
2 Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, University of Patras, GR 26500, Patras, Greece, and Institute of Chemical Engineering and High Temperature Chemical Processes-FORTH, GR 26500, Patras, Greece

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2002, 3(6), 803-814. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmes.2002.003.803

Abstract

In the present work the iterative effective medium approximation (IEMA) is appropriately used for wave dispersion and attenuation predictions in fiber-reinforced composites that microscopically exhibit a non-uniform fiber distribution. Two types of composites with such irregular topology of fibers are considered. The first contains a regular distribution of clusters of fibers embedded in a composite matrix with uniformly distributed fibers, and the second a uniform distribution of matrix-rich inclusions embedded in a fiber-rich regular composite medium. The resulting from the application of the IEMA scattering problems are solved numerically by means of a two dimensional boundary element method. The obtained dispersion and attenuation curves are compared to those for the corresponding fiber-reinforced composite with a uniform distribution of fibers.

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