Modeling the effective elastic and viscoelastic properties of randomly distributed short fiber reinforced composites

In this work, the effective elastic and viscoelastic properties of short fiber reinforced composites (SFRCs) were investigated based on micromechanical modeling and homogenization methods. Theoretical models were proposed for revealing the mechanisms of constituents and microstructures on the elastic and viscoelastic properties of SFRCs, which were numerically validated by finite element simulations based on representative volume element models. Multiple influencing factors were comprehensively considered during the process of numerical validation. The theoretical models were then experimentally validated using experimental data of glass fiber reinforced polymer composites in the literature. The numerical and experimental results illustrate that the theoretical models can provide accurate predictions for the elastic and viscoelastic properties of randomly distributed SFRCs under various conditions in both time and frequency domains.