The applicability of the generalized method of cells for analyzing discontinuously reinforced composites

The paper begins with a short overview of the recent work done in the field of discontinuous reinforced composites, focusing on the different parameters which influence the material behavior of discontinuous reinforced composites, as well as the various analysis approaches undertaken. Based on this overview it became evident, that in order to investigate the enumerated effects in an efficient and comprehensive manner, an alternative approach to the computationally intensive finite-element based micro-mechanics approach is required. Therefore an investigation is conducted to demonstrate the utility of utilizing the generalized method of cells (GMC), a semi-analytical micromechanics-based approach, to simulate the elastic and elastoplastic material behavior of aligned short fiber composites. The results are compared with: (1) simulations using other micromechanical based mean field models and finite element (FE) unit cell models found in the literature given elastic material behavior, as well as (2) FE unit cell and a new semi-analytical elastoplastic shear lag model in the inelastic range. GMC is shown to definitely have a window of applicability when simulating discontinuously reinforced composite material behavior.