Elastic properties, notched strength and fracture criterion in untreated woven jute-glass fabric reinforced polyester hybrid composites

The elastic properties and notch sensitivity of untreated woven jute and jute-glass fabric reinforced polyester hybrid composites has been investigated analytically and experimentally. Elastic properties were predicted by using the rule of hybrid mixture and classical lamination theory (CLT). Analytical investigation on notch sensitivity was carried out by using well known point stress criterion (PSC) and modified PSC criterion. Experimentally, elastic properties and notch sensitivity were determined by conducting tension test on specimens. The objective of the investigation is to determine the extent of applicability of stress fracture criteria that were developed for synthetic fibre composites, to natural fibre and hybrid composites. The characteristic dimension of PSC criteria was found to increase slightly with the increase in the hole size for all the types of laminates considered. However, modified PSC model has resulted in excellent agreement between the experimental and predicted values. The effect of hybridization of glass fibre with jute fibre as well the effect of hole size on the notch sensitivity of the composites under consideration is discussed. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.