Buckling of bers in ber-reinforced composites

Igor V. Andrianov
a
, Alexander L. Kalamkarov
b,
, Dieter Weichert
a
a
Institute of General Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Templergraben 64, Aachen D-52062, Germany
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4R2
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 3 February 2011
Received in revised form 9 December 2011
Accepted 2 January 2012
Available online 25 January 2012
Keywords:
A. Fibers
B. Buckling
C. Micro-mechanics
Transversal buckling of ber
a b s t r a c t
Elastic stability of bers in ber-reinforced composite materials subject to compressive loading is stud-
ied. The transversal buckling mode is considered, and two limiting cases, the dilute and non-dilute
composites are analyzed. In the case of a non-dilute composite, the cylindrical model and the lubrication
approximation are applied. The original problem is reduced to a problem of stability of a rod on elastic
foundation. Through the solution of this problem a simple formula for the buckling load is obtained. In
the case of a dilute composite, the solution of a problem of stability of a compressed rod in elastic plane
is used. On the basis of the obtained solutions in two limiting cases the interpolation formulae are
derived. These formulae describe buckling of ber in the ber-reinforced composite for any value of
the ber volume fraction. Comparison with known numerical and experimental results is carried out,
and the sufcient accuracy of the derived formulae is demonstrated.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
One of important failure modes of the ber-reinforced compos-
ite materials under the compressive loading is a loss of elastic sta-
bility of bers, see, e.g., [16]. This phenomenon is studied in many
experimental investigations [25]. Basic conclusion from the
experimental investigations can be formulated as follows: if a
ber-reinforced composite is compressed in the direction of bers,
the most probable mechanism of failure is micro-buckling.
Theoretical studies of elastic stability of composites are often
based on some simplifying assumptions. In the investigation by
Rosen [7], see also Jones [8, Chapter 3.5.3], the buckling of bers
was analyzed by considering the 2D problem for a two-layered
periodic composite in which the bers and matrix were repre-
sented by the stiff and soft layers respectively. As it is mentioned
in [8], the 2D buckling model results should be upper bounds for
the original 3D ber buckling problem, in which the ber buckles
into a helix at a lower load then that corresponding to sinusoidal
buckling in the plane.
The buckling of bers in elastic composite materials has been
studied by Parnes and Chiskis [9]. They modeled the composite
as a periodic two-layered material and analyzed the problem
by employing a mechanics of materials approach based on
EulerBernoulli theory of an innite ber layer embedded in an
elastic foundation matrix. The interaction between the ber and
matrix layers was analyzed using the elasticity equations. A com-
prehensive list of references to various investigations of the present
subject can be also found in [9]. Aboudi and Gilat [10] used the anal-
ogy between the governing equations for the analysis of buckling in
elastic structures and the elastodynamic equations of motionfor the
wave propagation. By employing this analogy, the exact and
approximate buckling stresses for the periodic layered materials
and for the continuous ber-reinforced composites respectively
have been established. Guz and co-authors, see [4,5,1113], used
solution of the problem in the form of series. In this approach the
original problem is reduced to the innite systems of linear alge-
braic equations with their subsequent numerical solution. FEM
was also used in the number of publications, see e.g., [1417].
Study of the Carbon nanotube-reinforced composites is of a
high importance. These materials have a very high stiffness and
strength. The major compressive failure mode of the Carbon
nanotube-reinforced composites is a loss of stability of the
embedded nanotubes. In [18] a failure theory for these materials
is developed on the basis of replacement of the nanotubes by the
innitely long cylinders. Note that the assumption of innitely
long bers is not accurate. In this case a problem of buckling
should be considered assuming an innite matrix and bers of
a nite length, as it is assumed in the present paper.
Two types of buckling modes are commonly considered: the
shear and transversal buckling modes. In the rst type of buckling
the ber matrix layers exhibit in-phase deformation, see Fig. 1a,
whereas in the latter type the ber and matrix layers exhibit
anti-phase deformation, see Fig. 1b [7,8]. Both buckling modes
are important from the practical point of view, however the trans-
versal buckling mode represents a particular interest in the cases of
dilute composites, see e.g., [3,8]. Therefore the analytical study of
transversal buckling of bers is important problem.
1359-8368/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2012.01.055

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 902 494 6072; fax: +1 902 423 6711.
E-mail address: alex.kalamkarov@dal.ca (A.L. Kalamkarov).
Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 20582062
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Composites: Part B
j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . com/ l ocat e/ composi t esb
In the present paper we consider the transversal buckling of -
bers and we derive the simple interpolation formulae, suitable for
any value of the ber volume fraction.
The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, an extensional
matrix deformation for a non-dilute case for bers of a square
cross-section is considered. The transversal buckling mode for
non-dilute case for bers of a square cross-section is studied in
Section 3. In Section 4 the transversal buckling mode for the dilute
case for bers of a square cross-section is analyzed, and the inter-
polation formula valid for any ber volume fractions is derived.
The comparison of the obtained results with the published data
is carried out. It demonstrates the sufcient accuracy of the derived
formulae. In Section 5 the transversal buckling mode is studied for
the bers of a circular cross-section. Section 6 concludes the paper.
2. Extensional matrix deformation for non-dilute case
Let us rst consider a ber-reinforced composite material with
the bers of a square cross section distributed periodically with the
centers at the points of a simple square lattice, see Fig. 2. Compos-
ite material is assumed to be innite in the direction of axis x
3
. It is
assumed that bers are packed tightly in composite material, so
that h a, see Fig. 2.
Without loss of generality it is assumed that the buckling occurs
in the direction of x
1
-axis. The loading of a single ber in the in-
nite composite (or a nite, but clamped the lateral sides) is studied.
Direction of load is xed and the problem is examined in the static
linear elastic formulation.
Due to the tight packing of bers the matrix layer between the
bers is thin, and it is possible to apply the lubrication approxima-
tion [19], to describe the deformation of matrix. Consider deforma-
tion in the direction x
1
P0. In view of the small thickness of layer
in the direction x
1
P0 the variation of stresses in this direction is
considerably larger than in the orthogonal direction, i.e.,
@u
(m)
@x
1

@u
(m)
@x
2
:
Therefore, the original equation of deformation
@
2
u
(m)
@x
2
1

@
2
u
(m)
@x
2
2
= 0
can be replaced by the following simplied equation:
@
2
u
(m)
@x
2
1
= 0; (1)
where u
(m)
is the displacement of matrix.
Let us now examine the loss of elastic stability of a single ber.
We apply the cylindrical model, commonly used in the theory of
composites, see, e.g., [20]. Namely, we isolate a cell
a 2h 6 x
i
6 a + 2h; i = 1, 2, and replace remaining composite
with the material with stiffness of bers. The boundary conditions
are written as follows:
u
(m)
= 0 for x
1
= a 2h: (2)
The ideal bonding between bers and matrix is assumed, and
therefore
u
(m)
= w
f
for x
1
= a; (3)
where w
f
is the displacement of ber in the x
1
-direction.
Since the stiffness of bers, as a rule, is substantially higher than
stiffness of matrix, we neglect the deformation of bers.
The solution of the boundary-value problem (1)(3) is the
following:
u
(m)
=
w
f
2h
(a 2h x
1
): (4)
3. The transversal buckling mode for non-dilute case
Stress in the matrix can be expressed as follows:
r
(m)
x
1
=
E
(m)
1 (m
(m)
)
2
e
(m)
x
1
; (5)
where e
(m)
x
1
=
@u
(m)
@x
1
, E
(m)
and m
(m)
are Youngs modulus and Poissons
ratio of the matrix material.
Eqs. (4) and (5) yield
r
(m)
x
1
=
E
(m)
2[1 (m
(m)
)
2
[
w
f
h
: (6)
Tension force from the matrix to the ber from two sides,
neglecting the lateral forces, can be expressed as follows:
T
(m)
= 2
a
h
E
(m)
[1 (m
(m)
)
2
[
w
f
: (7)
Otherwords, it is assumed that there will be similar tension of
matrix from the opposite side without debonding.
Equation of the elastic stability of ber loaded by the compres-
sive stress r
0
can be written as follows:
E
f
2a
3
3
d
4
w
f
dx
4
3
2ar
0
d
2
w
f
dx
2
3

E
(m)
[1 (m
(m)
)
2
[h
w
f
= 0 (8)
It can be seen that Eq. (8) coincides with the equation of the
elastic stability of a rod on an elastic foundation. It is natural to as-
sume that many waves are formed in this case when the buckling
occurs, and that is observed in the experiments [6]. The wave-
length is then determined from the formula [21]:
L
b
= a

2hE
f
[1 (m
(m)
)
2
[
3aE
(m)
4
s
: (9)
Therefore, the formula for the buckling stress can be calculated
from the following expression [21]:
Fig. 1. (a) Shear buckling mode, and (b) transversal buckling mode.
Fig. 2. Cross section of ber-reinforced composite material.
I.V. Andrianov et al. / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 20582062 2059
r
0
=

2aE
f
E
(m)
q

3h[1 (m
(m)
)
2
[
q : (10)
For the transversal buckling mode the following formula for
buckling stress was proposed by Rosen, see [7,8, Chapter 3.5.3]:
r
0
= 2c

cE
f
E
(m)
3(1 c)
s
; (11)
where c is the volume fraction of inclusions, i.e.,
c =
a
2
(a h)
2
:
As we consider the case h a, we get c ~ 1 2h/a. Discarding the
members of the order h/a, the Eq. (11) yields
r
0
=

2aE
f
E
(m)
q

3h
_ : (12)
The formula (12) differs from the above derived Eq. (10) only by
a Poissons ratio of matrix material which enters into Eq. (10) and
is absent in Eq. (12). The presence of the Poissons ratio m
(m)
in Eq.
(10) shows that this formula takes into account the mechanics of
deformation more accurately. Note that as it is shown in [9], the
formula (11) gives good results precisely for large concentrations
of rigid inclusions.
4. Transversal buckling mode for the dilute case: Matching of
limiting solutions
For the case of dilute composite, the following expression for
the buckling stress is derived in [9]:
r
0
= a

E
f
(E
(m)
)
2 3
q
; where a(m
(m)
) =
3(1 m
(m)
)
(1 m
(m)
)(3 4m
(m)
)

2=3
:
(13)
Note that in this case results for the shear and transversal
buckling modes practically coincide.
Since a(0) = 1, and a(0.35) = 0.97, Eq. (13) can be written as
follows:
r
0
=

E
f
(E
(m)
)
2 3
q
: (14)
Note that the following qualitatively similar formula is obtained
in [22]:
r
0
= 0:52

E
f
(E
(m)
)
2 3
q
:
Since we have obtained the expressions for the transversal
buckling load in both limiting cases of small and large values of
the ber volume fraction, it is possible to match them, and to de-
rive the interpolation formula. Note that it is more convenient to
match the limiting expressions for the transversal buckling strains
e
0
, i.e., the following formulae:
e
0
=

E
(m)
E
f
!
2
3
v
u
u
t
for c 0; (15)
e
0
=

2E
(m)

c
_
3E
f
(1

c
_
)[1 (m
(m)
)
2
[
v
u
u
t
for c 1: (16)
We apply the multiplicative matching [23], and use the volume
fraction of inclusions c as the matching parameter. The following
interpolation formula for the transversal buckling strain is derived
as a result:
e
0
=

E
(m)
E
f
!
2
3
v
u
u
t
1 2

E
f
E
(m)
6
s

1
3[1 (m
(m)
)
2
[(1 c)
s
c
k
" #
: (17)
Note that the value of the parameter k in Eq. (17) allows to
achieve the best approximation of formulae (15) and (16) in the
limiting cases. Calculations show that the best approximation is
achieved for k = 1:2.
Numerical results from Eq. (17) are shown in Fig. 3 (green
1
curves). For the comparison, the results from [9] are shown in
Fig. 3 by diamonds, and blue curves show the results of the follow-
ing formula obtained by Rosen [7,8, Chapter 3.5.3]:
e
0
= 2c

E
(m)
E
f
s

c
3(1 c)
r
: (18)
It is seen from Fig. 3 that the presently derived Eq. (17) gives
close results with those from [9], especially in the cases of smaller
ber volume fractions c, while formula (18) underestimates the
transversal buckling strains e
0
.
Thus, the presently derived formula (17) gives good results in
dilute case. Whereas Rosens formula (18) leads to not-accurate re-
sults in dilute case. At the same time, as shown above, in the non-
dilute case the formulae (17) and (18) practically coincide. And
both of them give good approximation of the exact results in
non-dilute case [8,9].
5. The transversal buckling mode for bers of a circular cross-
section
Consider now the elastic stability of bers of a circular cross-
section in the ber-reinforced composite material, see Fig. 4.
In the case of tight packing of bers the lubrication approxima-
tion [19] can be applied. In this approach the unit cell with curvi-
linear boundaries of inclusion, see Fig. 5a is replaced by a much
simpler problem for a strip shown in Fig. 5b.
Fig. 3. Comparison of results: green (upper) curves show results of presently
derived Eq. (17) for k = 1:2; blue (lower) curves show results of Rosens formula
(18) [7,8, Chapter 3.5.3]; and diamonds show results from [9]. The upper curves
correspond to E
f
/E
(m)
= 100, and the lower curves correspond to E
f
/E
(m)
= 1000.
1
For interpretation of color in Fig. 3, the reader is referred to the web version of
this article.
2060 I.V. Andrianov et al. / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 20582062
As a result the buckling stress in the case of axial compression
for the tightly packed bers of the circular cross section with a ra-
dius R can be determined from the following formula:
r
0
=

2RE
f
E
(m)
q

3h[1 (m
(m)
)
2
[
q ; (19)
where R is the radius of the ber, and h is the minimum distance
between the neighboring bers.
It should be noted that the formula (19) is less accurate than the
above obtained formula (10) because in the case of circular bers
the matrix occupies larger area than in the case of bers of a square
cross section.
The following interpolation formula for the transversal buckling
strain in the case of circular bers is derived as a result:
e
0
=

E
(m)
E
f
!
2
3
v
u
u
t
1 2

E
f
E
(m)
6
s

1
3[1 (m
(m)
)
2
[(1 c=c
max
)
s
(c c
max
)
k
" #
:
(20)
6. Conclusions
In the present paper the elastic stability of ber in
ber-reinforcedcompositematerials subject tocompressiveloading
is considered, and, in particular, the transversal buckling mode is
analyzed. The interpolation formula (19) (in the case of bers of a
rectangular cross-section) and the formula (20) (in the case of bers
of a circular cross-section) are derived to determine the buckling
loads for any value of the ber volume fraction. Comparison with
some known numerical and experimental results is carried out,
and the sufcient accuracy of the derived formulae is demonstrated.
In particular, it is shown that the presently derived formula (17)
gives accurate results in dilute case. Whereas Rosens formula (18)
leads to non-accurate results in dilute case. At the same time, for
non-dilute case the formulae (17) and (18) practically coincide.
And both of them give good approximation of the exact results in
non-dilute case.
The obtained results can be also used for the evaluation of the
elastic stability of laminated composite materials.
Note that in the analysis of stability of composites reinforced
with the short Carbon nanotubes the results for the critical
buckling load obtained using the assumption of innitely long -
bers, see [24,25], are not accurate. In this case a problem of elastic
stability should be considered assuming an innite matrix and the
bers with the nite length, as it is done in the present paper. It is
also of interest to investigate the inuence of boundary conditions
for a composite specimen with the nite dimensions, see, e.g., [2].
Acknowledgments
The present work was supported by the German Research Foun-
dation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), Grant # WE 736/30-1
(I.V. Andrianov); and by the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada, NSERC (A.L. Kalamkarov).
Authors thank Prof. A.I. Manevitch for his suggestions and com-
ments related to the obtained results.
References
[1] Sahimi M. Heterogeneous materials. NY: Springer; 2003.
[2] Greszczuk LB. Microbuckling failure of circular ber-reinforced composites.
AIAA J 1975;13(10):13118.
[3] Lager JR, June RR. Compressive strength of boronepoxy composites. J Compos
Mater 1969;3(1):4856.
[4] Guz AN. Fracture mechanics of composites in compression. Kyiv: Naukova
Dumka; 1990.
[5] Guz AN. Setting up a theory of stability of brous and laminated composites.
Int Appl Mech 2009;45(6):587612.
[6] Jochum Ch, Grandidier J-C. Microbuckling elastic modeling approach of a
single carbon ber embedded in a epoxy matrix. Compos Sci Technol
2004;64:24419.
[7] Rosen BW. Mechanisms of composite strengthening. In: Fiber composite
materials. Cleveland OH: American Society of Metals; 1964. p. 3775.
[8] Jones RM. Mechanics of composite materials. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor
& Francis; 1999.
Fig. 4. Composite material with hexagonal array of cylindrical bers.
Fig. 5. (a) Fiber-reinforced composite with bers of a circular cross-section; and (b)
asymptotic model.
I.V. Andrianov et al. / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 20582062 2061
[9] Parnes R, Chiskis A. Buckling of nano-bre reinforced composites: a
reexamination of elastic buckling. J Mech Phys Solid 2002;50:85579.
[10] Aboudi J, Gilat R. Buckling analysis of bers in composite materials by wave
propagation analogy. Int J Solid Struct 2006;43:516881.
[11] Guz AN, Lapusta YuN. On a method of investigating bre stability in an elastic
semi-innite matrix near a free surface. J Appl Math Mech 1989;53(4):54650.
[12] Guz AN, Lapusta YuN. Three-dimensional problems of the near-surface
instability of ber composites in compression (model of a piecewise-uniform
medium). Int Appl Mech 1999;35(7):64170.
[13] Guz AN, Samborskaya AN. General stability problem of a series of bers in an
elastic matrix. Int Appl Mech 1991;27(3):22331.
[14] Harich J, Lapusta YuN, Wagner W. 3D FE-modeling of surface and anisotropy
effects during micro-buckling in ber composites. Compos Struct
2009;89(4):5515.
[15] Zhang G, Latour RA. An analytical and numerical study of ber microbuckling.
Compos Sci Technol 1994;51:95109.
[16] Lapusta YuN, Harich J, Wagner W. Micromechanical formulation and 3D nite
element modeling of microinstabilities in composites. Comput Mater Sci
2007;38(4):6926.
[17] Lee K. Buckling of bers under distributed axial load. Fibers Polym
2008;9(2):2002.
[18] Guz AN, Roger AA, Guz IA. Developing a compressive failure theory of
nanocomposites. Int Appl Mech 2005;41(3):23355.
[19] Christensen RM. Mechanics of composite materials. Mineola, NY: Dover; 2005.
[20] Tandon GP. Use of composite cylinder model as representative volume
element for unidirectional ber composites. J Compos Mater
1995;29(3):388409.
[21] Timoshenko SP, Gere JM. Theory of elastic stability. 2nd ed. Mineola,
NY: Dover; 2009.
[22] Rzhanitsin AR. Stability of elastic systems equilibrium. Moscow: GITTL; 1955.
[23] Andrianov IV, Awrejcewicz J. New trends in asymptotic approaches:
summation and interpolation methods. Appl Mech Rev 2001;54(1):6992.
[24] Guz AN, Dekret VA. On two models in the three-dimensional theory of stability
of composite materials. Int Appl Mech 2008;44(8):83954.
[25] Dekret VA. On the research of the stability of composite materials reinforced
by nanotubes. Rep Nat Acad Sci Ukraine 2009;12:5560.
2062 I.V. Andrianov et al. / Composites: Part B 43 (2012) 20582062