ABSTRACT
The fatigue properties of filamentary reinforced metals are generally found to be superior to their monolithic counterparts. Because of the additional variables introduced by reason of the two phase anisotropic character of laboratory materials, the prediction of fatigue properties and the analysis of fatigue test data become a very difficult task. This process is further complicated by the variety of loading schemes are flexural, axial, filament-load angle, and various combinations thereof and the different definitions of fatigue failure. Metallurgical variables such as the strength, modulus, work hardening characteristics and notch sensitivity of the matrix, properties and physical form of chemical reaction products, effective strength and modulus of the filament-matrix bond, the strength, modulus, and stress concentration sensitivity of the filament, and the presence of pre-existing or consolidation-induced defects all influence the response of these materials to cyclic loads. Composite fatigue failures, in general, have been found to originate at stress concentrations usually located at the filament-matrix interface.
