ABSTRACT
The effectiveness of fibres in enhancing the mechanical properties of the brittle cementitious matrix is controlled by:
Detailed analytical treatments and models have been developed to account for the fibre-matrix stress transfer and crack bridging, by analyzing the shear stresses that develop across the fibre-matrix interface, and some of these will be reviewed in this chapter. The models usually provide an analytical solution to a simulation of the fibre-matrix interaction, which is based on the simple pull-out geometry shown in Fig. 3.1. These analytical treatments provide the basis for predicting the efficiency of the fibres in the actual composite, which is usually made with short, randomly-oriented fibres. The effects of such geometrical parameters on the strengthening and toughening effects of the fibres will be considered in Chapter 4.
