Prediction of the tensile strength of hybrid polymer composites filled with spherical particles and short fibers.

Two formulas which can predict the tensile strength of hybrid composite filled with short fibers and spherical particles are derived in this paper. One of them is suitable for predicting the tensile strength of hybrid composites in which there is no cluster. And another formula is suitable for predicting the tensile strength of hybrid composites in which clusters exist. There are two vital points in this paper. One is that the influence of fiber end on the tensile strength has been quantitatively studied, while most predictions of the tensile strength of the composite from other authors neglect it. Another one is that the influence of reinforcement aggregation on the tensile strength of the composite has been quantitatively studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]