title: Fibre break failure processes in unidirectional composites: evaluation of critical damage states.
abstract: Earlier work which successfully modelled the kinetics of fibre breakage in unidirectional composites under monotonic tensile loading has been extended to quantify the kinetics of fibre failure during both monotonic and sustained tensile loading. In both cases, failure was seen to occur when a critical density of large clusters (more than 16 fibres are broken within the representative volume element) of fibre breaks developed. However, in monotonic loading failure occurred very quickly after the first development of these large clusters, whereas under sustained loading the composite could accommodate greater levels of large clusters because of the lower applied load. This article is part of the themed issue 'Multiscale modelling of the structural integrity of composite materials'.
authors.affiliation: Centre des Matériaux Mines ParisTech, CNRS UMR 7633, BP 87, 91003 Evry Cedex, France Université de Bourgogne, Mirande, BP 47870, 21078 Dijon, France anthony.bunsell@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thionnet
authors.affiliation: Centre des Matériaux Mines ParisTech, CNRS UMR 7633, BP 87, 91003 Evry Cedex, France.
authors.forename: A R
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5439-4728
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Bunsell
keywords: clusters of breaks; critical damage; effects of monotonic and sustained tensile loading; fibre breaks