Effective volume of short carbon fibers in a composite from chopped thin tapes

This paper discusses a composite material from chopped thin narrow polymer tapes reinforced with carbon fibers and a polymer binder. The problem is posed to analytically determine the elastic and strength characteristics of the composite with a known minimum set of basic characteristics of the components. A methodology for sequential solving of the problem at the micro- and meso-levels is proposed. The key point in the methodology is the introduction of the “effective fiber volume factor” in the short filament and the way to calculate it using the “load-carrying factor” criterion. The following are presented: the results of calculating Young’s modulus and tensile strength of material samples from parts of tapes with fixed lengths (6, 12, 18 and 24 mm); comparison with the experimental data and evaluation of accuracy and limits of the applicability of this methodology.