(2007) Raischel, Frank; Herrmann, Hans J. (Prof. Dr.)
The fracture and failure of fiber reinforced materials such as wood, reinforced concrete, GFRP (glass fiber reinforced polymers) or CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced polymers) in considerably determined by the disordered properties of these materials and their constituents. A comprehensive understanding of their degradation and failure therefore requires the inclusion of statistical methods and models. This thesis describes the use of fibre bundle models, a well established model class used in statistical physics, to investigate the failure of fiber reinforced materials under shear, and the appearance of plasticity. We also consider the appearance of statistical precursors of imminent failure, and we improve already existing fibre bundle models for continuous damage to account for the failure of materials with a pronounced hierarchical setup.
