Influence of fibre clustering on the transverse mechanical behaviour of polypropylene/glass fibre composites: experimental approach and modelling

This paper describes both an experimental study and a numerical investigation of the transverse mechanical behaviour of unidirectional polypropylene/glass fibre composites. A deterministic numerical simulation of the mechanical damage that accounts for the organization within real composites is proposed. This numerical method is based on classical finite element analysis, with tailored phase arrangement that unequivocally accounts for the real samples. This technique permitted some light to be shed on the origin of the transverse brittleness of these composites. It is shown that the number of damaged zones as a function of the applied strain follows a Weibull distribution. The influence of the volume fraction of filler was also estimated, both through experimental and numerical ways. It can be concluded that the reduction of the average distance between fibres increases the local stress enhancement and favours the degradation mechanisms of composites, especially at the glass fibres/polymer interface. The paper also proposes a novel analytical relationship linking the number of damaged zones to the macroscopic transverse mechanical behaviour of commingled composites.