Effect of Notch and Notch Size on the Flexural Performance of Flax Fibre Composites

Abstract

Demand for environmentally friendly and sustainable fibre reinforced polymer composites have been increasing steadily in recent years. Natural fibres such as flax fibres are commonly used in various applications that include automotive parts and consumer products. Therefore, mechanical properties of the flax fibre are key factors which would affect the quality of product and its acceptance in industries. Effect of drilled hole size on the mechanical performance of flax fibre composites was investigated in thisa research. In particular, the flexural strength of un-notched and notched (drilled with different hole size) flax fibre composites were evaluated. Drilling process was carried out to obtain a notched specimen. Universal Testing Machine and ASTM D790 were used to determine the flexural data of the un-notched and notched flax fibre composites by performing three-point bendithe ng test. As expected, the notched flax fibre composites have a lower flexural strength than the un-notched flax fibre compoa sites. It was determined that the smaller notched diameter on the flax fibre composites have higher flexural strength compared to that of the larger notch diameter. Conclusively, notch size would highly affect the flexural strength of flax fibre composites.