The effect of microstructure of unidirectional fibre-reinforced composites on mechanical properties under transverse loading: a review

Unidirectional fibre-reinforced composites are increasingly used in the sectors of aerospace, automotive, construction, marine and other technical applications over the decades due to their low weight, high mechanical, thermal properties and high corrosion resistance. As a result, the understanding of mechanisms of their fracture and failure under different loads especially under transverse loading are very important in order to take full advantage of their excellent performance, to optimise production procedures and to develop new materials with higher performance. This paper reviewed the effects of the microstructure of a composite material (including fibre volume, fibre distribution, bonding quality between fibres and matrix and characteristics of matrix) on the performance of fibre-reinforced plastic composites according to mechanics theories and finite element method for microstructure analysis.