Engineered Fiber Bundles for Composite Reinforcement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing concrete materials exhibit low tensile strength, ductility, and toughness due to early fiber rupture when reinforced with discrete fibers, leading to brittle failure and reduced composite performance.
Innovation Solution
Engineered fiber bundles are created with a plurality of fibers coated to increase friction between them and an adhesive on the outside, allowing for gradual fiber rupture and prolonged bridging, enhancing composite strength, ductility, and toughness by delaying global bundle failure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If discrete fibers are added to concrete to improve tensile strength, then fiber reinforcement is achieved, but early fiber rupture occurs leading to reduced composite performance
Solution Approach 1:
The fiber bundle is segmented into multiple individual fibers (typically 7-19 fibers per bundle) that are grouped together but remain independently rupture-resistant. This segmentation allows the bundle to maintain integrity while individual fibers can rupture gradually rather than all at once, solving the early rupture problem while maintaining strength reinforcement.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite structure where individual fibers are combined into bundles with specific arrangements. The bundle structure itself becomes a composite material system that combines the reinforcement function of multiple fibers while adding the rupture-resistance property through the bundled configuration, achieving both strength and reliability improvements.
2Strength
If fiber volume fraction is increased to improve composite strength, then reinforcement effectiveness increases, but processing difficulty and production cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting fibers into small bundles rather than using individual fibers or large bundles, the invention achieves effective distribution at lower volume fractions. The bundled structure provides sufficient reinforcement effectiveness while maintaining ease of mixing and placement, avoiding the processing difficulties associated with high fiber volume fractions.
Solution Approach 2:
The fiber bundles provide localized reinforcement where needed while maintaining overall composite workability. The bundled structure allows for controlled distribution and placement in difficult-to-reach areas, improving manufacturability while achieving the required composite strength through targeted reinforcement.
3Strength
If fiber aspect ratio is increased to achieve pseudo strain-hardening, then composite ductility improves, but processing difficulty and production cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The fiber bundles have optimized aspect ratios that balance ductility improvement with processing ease. By controlling the bundle dimensions and fiber arrangement within bundles, the invention achieves pseudo strain-hardening behavior through multiple cracking while maintaining workability during mixing and placement, avoiding the processing difficulties of excessively high aspect ratio fibers.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The engineered fiber bundles significantly increase composite tensile strength, ductility, and toughness, achieving up to 13 MPa strength, 2.2% ductility, and 28.7 kJ/m2 toughness, compared to plain concrete, while preventing premature fiber rupture and promoting multiple cracking.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of fibers grouped together forming the fiber bundle, each of the fibers having a finish to increase friction of the fibers to each other
Implementation Method 2
an adhesive disposed on the outside surface of the fiber bundle
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to an engineered fiber bundle for reinforcement of composite materials. Specifically, the engineered fiber bundles of the present invention enhance the tensile behavior of the composites reinforced with the fiber bundles. Methods of making the same are further provided.