title: Insight into interfacial effect on effective physical properties of fibrous materials. I. The volume fraction of soft interfaces around anisotropic fibers.
abstract: With advances in interfacial properties characterization technologies, the interfacial volume fraction is a feasible parameter for evaluating effective physical properties of materials. However, there is a need to determine the interfacial volume fraction around anisotropic fibers and a need to assess the influence of such the interfacial property on effective properties of fibrous materials. Either ways, the accurate prediction of interfacial volume fraction is required. Towards this end, we put forward both theoretical and numerical schemes to determine the interfacial volume fraction in fibrous materials, which are considered as a three-phase composite structure consisting of matrix, anisotropic hard spherocylinder fibers, and soft interfacial layers with a constant dimension coated on the surface of each fiber. The interfacial volume fraction actually represents the fraction of space not occupied by all hard fibers and matrix. The theoretical scheme that adopts statistical geometry and stereological theories is essentially an analytic continuation from spherical inclusions. By simulating such three-phase chopped fibrous materials, we numerically derive the interfacial volume fraction. The theoretical and numerical schemes provide a quantitative insight that the interfacial volume fraction depends strongly on the fiber geometries like fiber shape, geometric size factor, and fiber size distribution. As a critical interfacial property, the present contribution can be further drawn into assessing effective physical properties of fibrous materials, which will be demonstrated in another paper (Part II) of this series.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Soft Matter Mechanics, College of Mechanics and Materials, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wenxiang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Soft Matter Mechanics, College of Mechanics and Materials, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Soft Matter Mechanics, College of Mechanics and Materials, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yanze
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Department of New Energy Engineering, College of Energy and Electrical Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jingtao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bai