Reinforcement of brittle matrices by glass fibres

Abstract

The factors that are important in determining the response to a tensile stress and the strength of glass-fibre-reinforced brittle building materials are discussed. Elastic stress transfer between fibre and matrix is assumed and allowance is made for a frictional shear stress between the surfaces after the interfacial bond has failed. It is shown that the important factors influencing the response to stress of these composites are the fibre dimensions and the frictional shear stresses at the interface. The response to stress and the strength are then sufficiently well described by theories based on a linear transfer of stress at the interface. This paper compares the theoretical results with experimental data for glass-fibre-reinforced gypsum plaster. The results are in good agreement with theory when the properties of the multi-element `fibres' are taken into account.