Prediction of open-hole tensile strength of unidirectional flax yarn reinforced polypropylene composite by analytical and numerical models

Abstract

Open-hole tensile strength of unidirectional flax yarn reinforced polypropylene composites has been predicted fordifferent laminates with varying lay-up through analytical and numerical models. Point stress criterion (PSC), modified PSCand finite element modeling (FEM) have been applied to examine the effect of different open-hole sizes on the stressbearing capacity. The characteristic length (d0) of the composites has been confirmed by PSC which depends on thespecimen geometry. The modified PSC has been used with stress concentration factor, notch sensitivity factor, andexponential parameter for evaluating the open-hole tensile strength. The stress distribution and the open-hole tensile strengthhave also been obtained by finite element simulation. The best correlations between the experimental and predicted resultshave been achieved from modified PSC model than with traditional PSC and FEM models.