Polypropylene reinforcement with flax or jute fibre; Influence of microstructure and constituents properties on the performance of composite

The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the tensile properties of flax and jute fibres and the mechanical performance of associated grafted polypropylene (PP-MAPP) biocomposites. Firstly, we analyzed the differences of the morphological and mechanical properties of these two types of fibres. Flax fibres demonstrated better mechanical properties. Secondly, polypropylene matrix unidirectional (UD) composites were manufactured and tensile tested. We noticed a strong correlation between the experimental Young's modulus and the estimated modulus with the rule of mixtures. Finally, short fibre PP-MAPP composites were extruded and injected and their tensile behavior was analyzed. Despite the lower tensile properties of the jute fibres, the PP-MAPP/jute composite exhibited better mechanical performances. A detailed analysis of the microstructure was conducted; it highlighted the preponderant role of fibre orientation on the mechanical properties of injected composites.