ABSTRACT
The recognition that strong and stiff compounds existed and could become available, in particular in the form of long, thin fibers, paved the road to the development of strong and stiff composites; with this goes the exploitation of the composite principles, which lead to materials with new and often unique combinations of properties. Examples of such behavior, which is based on the composite principles, are the fiber pull-out mechanism, the process of debonding between fibers and matrix, the phenomenon of multiple cracking, and the constrained deformation of the matrix caused by the closeness of fibers.
