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 for different laminates with varying lay-up through analytical and numerical models. Point stress criterion (PSC), modified PSC and finite element modeling (FEM) have been applied to examine the effect of different open-hole sizes on the stress bearing capacity. The characteristic length (<em>d₀</em>) of the composites has been confirmed by PSC which depends on the specimen geometry. The modified PSC has been used with stress concentration factor, notch sensitivity factor, and exponential parameter for evaluating the open-hole tensile strength. The stress distribution and the open-hole tensile strength have also been obtained by finite element simulation. The best correlations between the experimental and predicted results have been achieved from modified PSC model than with traditional PSC and FEM models.