Composite mechanical property enhancement through the use of Y-end shaped short fibers

This study uses Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to predict the mechanical property enhancement of the composites reinforced by end-shaped short fibers with different aspect ratios and volume fractions at microscale. Fibers used include conventional straight short fibers (CSSF), dumbbell-end shaped short fibers (DSSF), bone-end shaped short fibers (BSSF) and Y-end shaped short fibers (YSSF) with various lengths and angles. The critical distances between neighboring fiber ends for FEA modeling were theoretically deduced and numerically verified. This study has never been done before and the results fill a gap to this field.; In conclusion, planar-end Y-shaped short fiber reinforced composites showed better mechanical property enhancement in some conditions compared with straight fiber, dumbbell-end shaped fiber and bone-end shaped fiber reinforced composites. The composites studied in this project can be extensively used in civil and military applications. The method and procedure developed can be applied to future research projects. Researches on experimental verification and technology transferring are needed in the future.