AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF ELASTIC-PLASTIC BEHAVIOR OF A FIBROUS BORON ALUMINUM COMPOSITE .2. FIBER-DOMINATED MODE

In the companion paper, part I, initial and subsequent yield surfaces, and plastic strains in a unidirectionally reinforced boron-6061-O aluminum composite were found experimentally under loading conditions which activate matrix-dominated deformation. In the present paper, we present experimental results related to the fiber-dominated behavior of the B/Al composite. Both monotonic and cyclic loading programs were applied in the axial tension stress-longitudinal shear stress plane. The results indicate that the shape of the experimentally observed initial and subsequent yield surfaces conforms with the predictions of the bimodal theory. The agreement, however, does not extend to the observed and predicted direction and magnitude of plastic strains.