Journal of Composite

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Ribbon Reinforcement of Composites

J.C. Halpin and R.L. Thomas
Journal of Composite Materials 1968 2: 488
DOI: 10.1177/002199836800200409

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Ribbon Reinforcement of Composites

J. C. HALPIN

Air Force Materials Laboratory

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
and
Materials Research Laboratory
Washington University
St. Louis, Missouri

AND

R. L. THOMAS

Materials Research Laboratory

Washington University
St. Louis, Missouri

A clear demonstration of the potential of ribbon shaped rein-

forcements in composite materials applications is presented. From
a micromechanics analysis, supported by experimental results, we
find that ribbon reinforcement offers superior stiffness properties
in the plane of the lamina. The macromechanics analysis intro-
duces the concept of a hybrid composite in which the engineer may
combine the outstanding strength properties of fibers with the
superior stiffness properties offered by ribbon reinforcements. It is
pointed out that the low strength observed for glass-ribbon com-
posites is a consequence of fabrication procedures and does not
correspond to the theoretical limiting strength of ribbon rein-
forcements.

INTRODUCTION
and metal matrix composites find
application in modernplastics
REINFORCED
IBER technology due to their high strength to
weight and stittness to weight ratios. The price paid for these favor-
able properties is anisotropy, with the accompanying lower specific
strength and stiffness properties in directions perpendicular to the

J. COMPOSITE MATERIALS, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Oct. 1968), p. 488.

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oriented fiber direction. While this difficulty is surmounted, in part,
by the construction of laminates possessing several different fiber
directions, this solution leads to substantial weight and cost in-
creases. These comments are particularly pertinent to applications

involving large bending moments, torsional or shear stiffness and

requirements for high buckling stability. Specifically, the engineer is
interested in materials which exhibit increased transverse and shear
properties.
To achieve the desired
properties we may:
a) improve composites by attempting to develop new matrix

materials with an order of

magnitude increase in mechanical
properties, a unlikely prospect, or,
very
b) to employ rectangular fiber cross sections, ribbon shapes, with
the elongated axes parallel to the transverse direction where the
property improvements are desired. We shall, in this com-
munication, analyze this second approach, as it appears to
possess a greater potential for success.

MICROMECHANICS
The problem of reinforcement cross-sectional geometry has been
treated in some detail by Foye [1]who performed a finite element
analysis of the transverse Young’s modulus and the longitudinal-
transverse shear modulus for various volume fractions of diamond,
elliptical and rectangular cross-sectional shapes. Each of these shapes
were analyzed at reinforcement width to thickness ratios of 1, 4, and

10. These results combined with the interperolation procedures of

Halpin and Tsai [2] provide the basis for the micromechanics pre-
sented in this paper.
It can be shown [2] that Hermans solution [3] generalizing Hill’s
self-consistent model [4]can be reduced to the approximate form:

and

and

where

In this formulation the quantities p, pf, pm, and e are identified as:
p =
composite moduli, E22, G12, or P23;
p~= corresponding fiber modulus, E f, Gf, Pf respectively;
p~
=
corresponding matrix modulus, Em, Gm, vm, respectively;
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 I = a measure of reinforcement which depends on the boundary
conditions.

Once the ~ factors are known for the geometry of inclusions, packing
geometry and loading conditions, the composite elastic moduli for
fiber, tape and particulate composites are approximated from the
generalized formula. Reliable estimates for the ~ factor can be ob-
tained by comparison of equation (3) with the numerical micro-
mechanics solutions employing formal elasticity theory. For example,
Halpin and Tsai have shown [1]that the corrected results of Adams
and Doner [5]can be duplicated with equation (3) for all ratios of
pf/pm. Thus, for the extension of Foye’s calculations for ribbon
shaped reinforcement to higher aspect ratios ( a/b ) and various vol-
ume fractions one need only to determine the appropriate factors

ÇE and eG. The appropriate values of the 6 factors required for the
prediction of the transverse modulus are:

and the longitudinal transverse shear modulus

Substituting equations (5) and (6) into equations (3) and (4) and
assuming appropriate values for boron and glass reinforcements in an
epoxy matrix we obtain the results presented in Figures 1 and 2.
One should note the very rapid increase in the transverse stiffness and
shear moduli as ratio of the width to thickness becomes large. The
limiting values of C/Cmand Ë/Em correspond to the case when the
constituents behave as infinite two dimensional sheets laminated in
parallel. Thus when 6 - + oo

when equation (3) goes to equation (1)

and the composite becomes isotropic in the lamination plane. This

limiting case is illustrated in Figure 3 for a glass ribbon 1 inch wide,
.002 inches in thickness made by Corning Glass from 8871 glass
(E - 7-8.5 x 106 psi, v 0.26). The experimental and theoretical
=

results are;

and

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Figure 1. Composite Young’s Modulus vs. Aspect Ratio.

Figure 2. Composite Shear Modulus vs. Aspect Ratio.

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 and

Further confidence in the analy-

sis presented here can be obtained
by the comparison of the experi-
mental transverse and shear moduli
of 37% boron film composites E22=
20 x 106 PSI and G12=8.79 x 106
PSI against the predicted values of
E22 = 22 x 106 PSI and G12 =
9.3 x 106 PSI. Humphrey [6] re-
ports data on glass tape composite
of v f= 0.90 with E f=10 x 106 PSII
of EL = 9.1 X 106 and ET= 8.9 x 106
for an aspect ratio of approximately
40 to 1. These results support the
!11
contention that the micromechan-
Figure 3. Transformation of Various Com- ics results presented in this section
posites. are consistent with reality.

Accordingly we may conclude that ribbon shaped reinforcements

provide practical
a means of achieving enchanced composite stiffness
properties. In fact, S-glass, ribbon form, could become competitive
in
with the high modulus fibers under current investigation in composite
technology as was observed by Foye [1]. The results of our analysis,
Figure (1) and (2) also show that, on a stiffness basis it is not necessary
to fabricate films from reinforcement materials a/b ~ + 00, but only
to have a ratio of alb of 100 or so. Thus for a 2 mil film such as pro-
duced by the Corning Glass Works 1/4 inch ribbons would be adequate
for substantial property improvement. It should also be pointed out
that the Corning tape has beveled edges thereby eliminating the
sharp corners detrimental to the strength properties of truly rectangu-
lar cross sections. This desirable fabricated shape should allow for
enhanced transverse strength properties.

STRENGTH
While an excellent be made for ribbon shaped reinforce-
case can
ments possessing large aspect ratios, the strength properties do
present some significant difficulties. In a general sense one can show
that the strength in the transverse direction should increase with
increasing aspect ratios in a manner similar to the modulus-aspect

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ratio curves of Figure 1. Accordingly, in the limit of large aspect
ratios one passes to a limiting case in which the transverse strength
aT is equal to the longitudinal strength o-~. of the composite. Insofar as
the rule of mixtures approximates the longitudinal strength of fibrous
composites, the rule of mixture strength will provide a rough estimate
of aT :

We are employing the rule of mixtures for illustrative purposes

only but we definitely do not advocate its use in serious work. Thus,
the ribbon reinforcements can and do produce composites which are
nearly isotropic with respect to strength in the plane of the lamina.
This result is indeed desirable, however, the strengths of these lam-
inates are quite low 7-30,000 PSI. This result has lead to under-
standable disappointment by many workers as it was initially thought
that the realization of equations (8) would lead to an in-plane isotropic
strength approaching that of the longitudinal strength of a composite
fabricated from fine fibrous reinforcements.
To understand the source of this difficulty let us consider the
phenomenon of the &dquo;size effect&dquo; in brittle materials. Inorganic glass
exhibits a notorious tendency to become stronger as the area under
stress decreases. This phenomenon is generally associated with the
well-known observation that the rupture stress decreases with in-
creasing cross-sectional area of a fiber. To treat this fiber size effect
as a necessary consequence of a statistical flaw hypothesis is an

oversimplification of the true situation [7] [8] . Anderson has pointed

out that the &dquo;fiber size&dquo; observation results from the methods of
fabricating fibers whereby a smaller fiber is made by a high pulling
rate. It was shown that the drawing speed affected the quenching
time of the fiber nearly as much as the diameter. A rapid variation of
strength with cross sectional size or surface area coald be accounted
for if it is assumed that the flaw density varies rapidly with quenching
time and other such fabrication variables. Anderson’s results [8]
indicate that if all fabrication conditions are held constant, including
drawing speed, strength will then be only a weak function of size or
aspect ratio and not a strong function of size.
These comments should indicate to the reader that unless rigid
controls are placed upon fabrication procedures of tapes, a tape is
produced with the strength properties of bulk glass (- 5,000-30,000
PSI) under normal ambient conditions. This expectation is completely

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consistent with our experimental results and rough estimates sym-
bolized by equation (8). The point of this discussion is to indicate that
the low strengths observed in glass-type composites is incidental
rather than fundamental. By this comment we mean that improved
technical strength is theoretically possible and obtainable through the
optimization of reinforcement fabrication procedures. We shall dis-
cuss this point in more detail at a future date.
The interested reader is referred to the papers of Scop and Argon
[9] and [10] for further discussion of the strength abilities of parallel
tape composites. In this work it is demonstrated that parallel arrange-
ments of tape like reinforcements lead to a positive, beneficial, size
effect.

HYBRID LAMINATES

Ribbon shaped reinforcements may also find applications when

combined with fibrous reinforcements to yield hybrid composite
structures. This form of a laminate would combine the high strength
properties of the fibers with the superior stiffness properties of the
ribbon reinforcements. Employing the invariant approach of Tsai and
Pagano [11] we shall outline the stiffness analysis for a laminate
containing 50 per cent of fiber reinforced lamina of vf= 0.65 and 50
per cent of ribbon reinforced lamina at vf= 0.65. Consider the sche-
matic illustration in Figure 4 for an angle ply material in which a is
the half angle for the angle ply, and
-0 is the angle between the princi-
pal axes of the laminate and the
coordinates of the applied stress.
The lamination calculation then
involves the micromechanics com-
putation employing equations
(1-4); the computation of Qij and
then the computation of the mate-
rial coefficients Ui for the fiber
Figure 4. Rotation of Angle-Ply Composites. composite as defined in [11] and
the plane stress stiffness matrix,
Qij, for the isotropic ribbon composite as indicated in [11]. The Ui
matrix is then employed to evaluate the Au matrix:

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For a general hybrid angle ply composite one may sum through the

thickness in proportion to the fraction of the thickness of materials a,

b, c, etc., to obtain
...
[A2~ ] H for the hybrid composite:

where [AZ~ ]a is the stiffness matrix of angle ply material A, etc...

For specific case,
our isotropic glass ribbon plus cross ply (0°, 90°)
glass fiber this calculation involves:

and

or e.g.,

The matrix of [A;j]H, shown in Figure 5, can then be inverted to ob-

tain [A’,], from which one obtains the elastic moduli. Also shown in
Figure 5 is the quasi-isotropic fiber composite. The reader can readily
judge for himself the significant improvement in stiffness achieved by
incorporating ribbon reinforcements into conventional fiber rein-
forced materials. The general procedure for computing the A,,, Be
and Dt) matrices from invariants principals for any arbitrary hybrid
composite shall be discussed by Pagano [12] in a forthcoming
publication.

SUMMARY
A clear demonstration of the potential of ribbon shaped reinforce-
ment in composite materials applications has been presented. From
the micromechanics analysis, supported by experimental results, we
find that ribbon reinforcement offers superior stiffness properties in
the plane of the lamina. There is, however, a diminishing property
value in the shear G23 and stiffness E33 through the thickness of the
lamina but this effect should not constitute an impediment to the use
of these composites. The macromechanical analysis introduces the
concept of a hybrid composite in which the engineer may combine

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 Figure 5. Transformation of Stiffness Matrix for Various Composites.

the outstanding strength properties of fibers with the superior stiffness

properties offered by ribbon reinforcements. We have pointed out
that the low strength observed for glass-ribbon composites is a conse-
quence of fabrication procedures and does not correspond to the
theoretical limiting strength of ribbon reinforcements. Either im-
proved fabrication techniques or switching from glass to ceramic
material will yield a technically viable composite material.
These comments also pertinent to other cross-sectional
are

geometries, particular flake-shaped reinforcements. Flakes possess-

in
ing large aspect ratios in two dimensions should approach the limiting
conditions for stiffness and strength outlined here. The problem of
the theoretical strength of discontinuous fibers, tapes, flakes, etc. still
needs much analytical work, not only along the lines indicated here
and by Scop and Argon, but also into the question of the stress con-
centration imparted to a reinforcement when there is a gap in the

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reinforcement spacing in the nearest neighbor parallel layers. Some
aspects of this problem are discussed by Riley [13] .
We have discussed only one type of hybrid composite as an illus-
trative example. There are, however, an indefinite number of geo-
metric possible combinations of fibers and tapes. For example the
intermixing of tapes and fibers in the same plane, etc. Investigation
along this line offers a creative approach to develop a wide variation
of strength/stiffness properties taylored to specific end use conditions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
One of the authors(R. L. T.) acknowledges the support by
ONR/ARPA Monsanto/Washington University Association.
We wish to acknowledge discussions with S. W. Tsai on micro-
mechanics, N. J. Pagano on macromechanics, and P. E. Chen on the
comparison of our approximate micromechanics procedures against
his exact computations.
Finally we wish to acknowledge Dr. G. Baum of the Corning Glass
Works for supplying the glass tape employed in this program.

REFERENCES
1. R. L. Foye, "Structural Composites", Quarterly Progress Report No. 2, AFML
Contract No. AF 33(613)-5150 (1966).
2. J. C. Halpin and S. W. Tsai, in an appendix of "Environmental Factors in Com-
posite Materials Design", AFML-TR 67-423.
3. J. J. Hermans, "The Elastic Properties of Fiber Reinforced Materials When the
Fibers are Aligned", Proc. Konigl. Nederl. Akad Weteschappen Amsterdam, Vol.
B70, No. 1 (1967), p. 1.
4. R. Hill, "Theory of Mechanical Properties of Fiber-Strengthened Materials: I. Elas-
tic Behavior," J. Mech. Phys. Solids, Vol. 12, (1964) p. 199.
5. D. F. Adams, and D. R. Doner, and R. L. Thomas, "Mechanical Behavior of Fiber-
Reinforced Composite Materials", AFML-TR 67-96 (1967).
6. R. A. Humphrey, in Modern Composite Materials, edited by Broutman and Krock
Addison, Reading, Mass. (1967).
"
7. S. Bateson, ", J. Soc. Glass Technol, 37, 302 (1953).
8. O. L. Anderson, "Cooling Time of Strong Glass Fibers" J. Applied Phys., Vol. 29,
(1958) p. 9.
9. P. M. Scop and A. S. Argon, "Statistical Theory of Strength of Laminated Com-
posites", J. Composite Materials, Vol. 1, (1967) p. 92.
10. P. M. Scop and A. S. Argon, to be published in J. Composite Materials (1969).
11. S. W. Tsai and N. J. Pagano, "Invariant Properties of Composite Materials" in
Composite Materials Workshop edited by Tsai, Halpin and Pagano, Technomic
Publishing, Stamford, Conn. (1968).
12. N. J. Pagano, to be published in J. Composite Materials, 1969.
13. V. R. Riley, this issue J. Composite Materials.

(received August 1, 1968)

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