Prediction of the tensile strength of polymer composites filled with aligned short fibers

In this paper, two formulae that can predict the tensile strength of composites are derived. One of the formulae is suitable for predicting the tensile strength of composites in which there is no fiber cluster, and the other is suitable for predicting the tensile strength of composites in which fiber clusters exist. These two formulae reflect that the tensile strength of composites is a function of fiber volume fraction. Comparisons between our prediction and experimental data from other papers have been made, and good agreement between them has been found, which validates the theory in this paper. There are two vital points in this paper. One is that the influence of fiber end on the tensile strength has been quantitatively studied, while most predictions of the tensile strength of composites from other authors have been neglected. The other is that the influence of fiber aggregation on the tensile strength of composites has been quantitatively studied, which shows the diminishing degree of fiber aggregation on the tensile strength of composites