Date of Award:

5-2017

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Committee

Thomas H. Fronk

Abstract

A micromechanical analysis of the representative volume element (RVE) of a unidirectional flax/jute fiber reinforced epoxy composite is performed using finite element analysis (FEA). To do so, first effective mechanical properties of flax fiber and jute fiber are evaluated numerically and then used in evaluating the effective properties of ax/jute/epoxy hybrid composite. Mechanics of Structure Genome (MSG), a new homogenization tool developed in Purdue University, is used to calculate the homogenized effective properties. Numerical results are compared with analytical solution based on rule of mixture, Halpin-Tsai as well as Tsai-Hahn equations. The effect of the volume fraction of the two different fibers is studied. Mechanical performance of hybrid composite is compared with the mechanical performance of single fiber composites. Synergistic effect due to hybridization is studied using analytical method given in literature, finite element method based MSG and Classical Lamination Theory (CLT). It is found that, when Poisson ratio is taken into consideration, elastic modulus shows synergy due to hybridization. Finally, impact properties of ax/jute/epoxy hybrid composite material are studied using Charpy impact testing.

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