Stress and strain in the deformation zone have very important impact on the performance of fiber reinforced aluminum matrix composites, but it is still difficult to detect and analyze the stress-strain intuitively. In this paper, the rare-earth ion Eu3+ as a luminous center was doped into the YAG-Al2O3 composite short-nanofibers by an electrospinning method, and afterwards these luminescent fibers were compounded with aluminum alloy powders and sintered to form fiber-reinforced composites. The changes of emission spectrum of the fiber-reinforced aluminum matrix composites under different tensile stresses were studied by the spectral response. Results showed that the Eu3+ doped YAG-Al2O3 composite short-nanofibers prepared by electrospinning had a stress-luminescence property and can effectively improve the mechanical property of the aluminum matrix composites (Eu3+ doped YAG-Al2O3 composite short-nanofibers are abbreviated as (YAG:Eu3+-Al2O3)csf in the following description). The excitation spectra of (YAG:Eu3+-Al2O3)csf showed a charge transfer belt in the range of 350–390 nm and its emission spectra exhibited the 5D0-7Fj (j=0, 1, 2, 3, 4) transitions of Eu3+. The ultimate tensile strength (UST) of (YAG:Eu3+-Al2O3)csf reinforced Al matrix composites reached 300.1 MPa with the content of (YAG:Eu3+-Al2O3)csf was 1 wt% ((YAG:Eu3+-Al2O3)csf reinforced Al matrix composites are abbreviated as (YAG:Eu3+-Al2O3)csf/Al composites in the following description). Under the action of applied load, the tensile stress was linearly related to the barycenter wavelength of fluorescence emission spectrum in the deformation region of (YAG:Eu3+-Al2O3)csf/Al composites. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.