Prediction of impact behaviour for natural fiber-reinforced composites using the finite element method

Abstract

In the past ten years, as awareness of biodegradability has increased, so has the utilization of natural fiber-reinforced composites. Along with the material properties, dynamic responsiveness is also necessary for the efficient design of these natural reinforced composites. In the current work, elastic characteristics and interfacial stress are evaluated for natural fiber-reinforced composites utilizing micromechanics and finite element methods. Later, employing explicit dynamic analysis, the natural composite plate was examined under impact loading. The analytical results used to verify the finite element models at each stage show good agreement. To carry out the current study, natural fiber-reinforced composites like hemp, sisal and flax as well as hemp + sisal, sisal + flax and hemp + flax hybrid composites were evaluated for their elastic modulus in longitudinal, transverse, in-plane and out of plane directions as well as their major and minor Poisson’s ratio. By adjusting the impactor’s velocity from 2 m/s to 11 m/s, the deformation, stresses, internal energy and energy summary of the hybrid natural fiber-reinforced composite are calculated from the impact analysis. Based on all the findings, the performance of hemp fiber and hemp fiber-based hybrid composites is better than all other composites taken into consideration for the current work. This research is utilized to build composite materials that function effectively under gradual loading.