Evaluation of micromechanical properties of advanced polymer composites

A new methodology for the prediction of stress transfer in the single fibre fragmentation test, known as the plasticity effect model, has been used. A new data reduction technique, known as the cumulative stress transfer function (CSTF technique), which takes the different damage events observed during the fragmentation test into account, was used to obtain a measure of fibre-matrix adhesion from the fragmentation test. The effect of carbon fibre surface treatment on the interface of microcomposite properties was studied using the CSTF technique. It was found that the CSTF technique could predict fibre matrix adhesion in a single fibre fragmentation test more accurately than the conventional data reduction technique. In this study, a commercial resin system was used to produce fragmentation test specimens.