EFFECTIVE ELASTIC PROPERTIES OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL BRAIDED COMPOSITES WITH MATRIX MICROCRACKS

The elastic constants of three-dimensional braided composites containing matrix microcracks were predicted by Eshelby and Mori-Tanaka theories combined with Stiffness Avcraging Method,and their variation with fiber volume fraction,microcrack density and braided parameters was analyzed. The theoretical predictions match the experimental results on reference 3 fairly well.