On the Role of Shear Transfer Mechanisms in the Longitudinal Tensile Failure of CFRP Composites

A three-Dimensional (3D) Fibre Bundle Model (FBM) has been developed to simulate the longitudinal tensile failure and predict the statistical strength distribution of CFRP bundles of dierent sizes. The model incorporates an original semi-analytical approach to determine the stress eld inside the bundle and to predict the evolution of the failure process. The present model can account for the eects of bre-matrix debonding, as well as the eect of the size of the cluster of broken bres on the stress recovery length and, in turn, on the bundle strength. The predictions from the model are shown to compare favourably with experimental results from the literature, thus demonstrating the suitability of the modelling approach.