Mechanical properties and micromechanical analysis of nonwoven kenaf fibre/epoxy composites produced by resin transfer moulding
Journal of Composite Materials
Published online on August 22, 2016
Abstract
In this paper, the mechanical performance of resin transfer moulded nonwoven kenaf fibre/epoxy composites in the fibre volume fraction (V f ) range of 0–0.42 was investigated. The effect of the needle-punching direction on the tensile properties of the composites was also investigated. The highest tensile, flexural and fracture properties were attained at a V f of 0.42. The nonwoven kenaf fibre/epoxy composites were proven to exhibit tensile isotropy. The typical load versus displacement graph and scanning electron microscopy micrographs of the epoxy and nonwoven kenaf fibre/epoxy composites revealed that the energy absorbing events caused by the fibres led to improvements in the fracture toughness. Meanwhile, the micromechanical parameters of the composites were determined by a micromechanics analysis using the Cox–Krenchel model. The analysis proved the applicability of the model for nonwoven kenaf fibre/epoxy composites as the calculated efficiency factors were comparable to the values from previous literatures.