In this work, we extend the statistical strength model of Daniels for a parallel fiber
bundle to a twisted bundle with an ideal helical structure. The bundle is
clamped at each end in such a way that it has no slack fibers in the unloaded
state. The fibers are linearly elastic and continuous, and have random
strengths following a Weibull distribution with Weibull shape parameter
. We
calculate the stress redistribution from failed to surviving fibers according to a
twist-modified equal load sharing (TM-ELS) rule, introduced here. The effect of the
twist is modeled analytically by two approaches, one called
geometrical averaging, in
which the fiber helix angles are averaged, and the other called
statistical averaging, in
which the fiber failure probabilities are averaged. In both probability models, the
bundle strength distributions remain asymptotically Gaussian, as in Daniels’ original
model; however, the associated mean and standard deviation are additionally
altered by the surface twist angle. To validate these theories, a Monte Carlo
model is developed to simulate fiber break initiation and progression within
a cross-sectional plane under tension. For all values of surface twist angle
,
and bundle size studied, the simulated strength distributions are shown to
be strongly Gaussian. Transitions in failure mode from diffuse, across the
bundle cross-section, to localized near the center of the bundle occur when
and
increase and the bundle size decreases, in spite of application of a diffuse-type loading
sharing rule, TM-ELS. Both analytical models provide similar results which are in
excellent agreement with the simulated results. For the most part, we consider the
bundle to be short enough that interfiber friction plays no role in the stress
redistribution. However, to demonstrate its importance in long bundles, we mimic the
effects of interfiber friction by considering a chain of such bundles where the bundle
length is chosen to approximate the characteristic length of unloading around
breaks.
Keywords
twisted fiber bundle or yarn, Monte Carlo simulation,
statistical strength, twist modified equal load sharing
(TM-ELS), ideal helical structure, interfiber friction,
chain-of-bundles model