Rodricks, Carol WinnifredCarol WinnifredRodricksGreenfeld, IsraelIsraelGreenfeldFiedler, BodoBodoFiedlerWagner, Hanoch DanielHanoch DanielWagner2022-02-142022-02-142022-01-24Materials 15 (3): 890 (2022)http://hdl.handle.net/11420/11687The fibre–matrix interface plays an important role in the overall mechanical behaviour of a fibre-reinforced composite, but the classical approach to improving the interface through chemical sizing is bounded by the materials’ properties. By contrast, structural and/or geometrical modification of the interface may provide mechanical interlocking and have wider possibilities and benefits. Here we investigate the introduction of polymer beads along the interface of a fibre and validate their contribution by a single fibre fragmentation test. Using glass fibres and the same epoxy system for both matrix and beads, an increase of 17.5% is observed in the interfacial shear strength of the beaded fibres compared to fibres with no polymer beads. This increase should lead to a similar improvement in the strength and toughness of a beaded fibre composite when short fibres are used. The beads were also seen to stabilise the fragmentation process of a fibre by reducing the scatter in fragment density at a given strain. A case could also be made for a critical beads number—4 beads in our experimental system—to describe interfacial shear strength, analogous to a critical length used in fibre composites.The fibre-matrix interface plays an important role in the overall mechanical behaviour of a fibre-reinforced composite, but the classical approach to improving the interface through chemical sizing is bounded by the materials’ properties. By contrast, structural and/or geometrical modification of the interface may provide mechanical interlocking and have wider possibilities and benefits. Here we investigate the introduction of polymer beads along the interface of a fibre and validate their contribution by a single fibre fragmentation test. Using glass fibres and the same epoxy system for both matrix and beads, an increase of 17.5% is observed in the interfacial shear strength of the beaded fibres compared to fibres with no polymer beads. This increase should lead to a similar improvement in the strength and toughness of a beaded fibre composite when short fibres are used. The beads were also seen to stabilise the fragmentation process of a fibre by reducing the scatter in fragment density at a given strain. A case could also be made for a critical beads number—4 beads in our experimental system—to describe interfacial shear strength, analogous to a critical length used in fibre composites.en1996-194420223Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institutehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/interfacebeaded fibre compositestructural modificationmechanical interlockingfragmentation testChemieTechnikIngenieurwissenschaftenJournal Article2022-02-1110.15480/882.415110.3390/ma1503089010.15480/882.4151Journal Article