Predicting and Characterizing Plastic Deformation Behavior of Transversely-isotropic Carbon Fiber Monofilament Using Finite Element Simulation and Nanoindentation

Accurate prediction and measurement of the plastic deformation behavior and the mechanical properties of carbon fiber monofilament is important to serve the purpose of improving the mechanical properties of carbon fiber reinforced composites. This article reports a study on the nanoindentation of a single carbon fiber via finite element simulation and instrumented indentation testing. The loading-unloading curves, the strain distribution at any time inside the single carbon fiber during nanoindentation, the residual strain distribution inside the single carbon fiber, and the permanent plastic deformation around indenter tip pressing into the radial direction of the single carbon fiber were simulated via finite element method. Instrumented nanoindentation was combined with atomic force microscopy to investigate the plastic deformation behavior of nanoindentation on the single carbon fiber. It shows that the experimentally-measured load-displacement curve and the permanent plastic deformations of nanoindentation on the single carbon fiber can be well predicted.