A study of fibre and interface parameters affecting the fatigue behaviour of natural fibre composites

The tension-tension fatigue behaviour of different natural fibre reinforced plastics was investigated. The composites used were made of flax and jute yarns and wovens as reinforcements for epoxy resins, polyester resins and polypropylene. Fibre type, textile architecture, interphase properties, fibre properties and content were found to affect the fatigue behaviour strongly as illustrated with damping versus applied maximum load curves. It was found that natural fibre reinforced plastics with higher fibre strength and modulus, stronger fibre-matrix adhesion or higher fibre fractions possess higher critical loads for damage initiation and higher failure loads. In addition, damage propagation rates were reduced. Furthermore, unidirectional composites were less sensitive to fatigue induced damage than woven reinforced ones. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.