Analytical Estimation of Elastic Properties of Polypropylene Fiber Matrix Composite by Finite Element Analysis

Abstract

A structural composite is a material system consisting of two or more phases on a macroscopic scale, whose mechanical performance and properties are designed to be superior to those of constituent materials acting independently. Fiber reinforced composites (FRP) are slowly emerging from the realm of advanced materials and are replacing conventional materials in a variety of applications. However, the mechanics of FRPs are complex owing to their anisotropic and heterogeneous characteristics. In this paper a representative volume model has been considered and a finite element model incorporating the necessary boundary conditions is developed using available FEA package ANSYS to predict the elastic property of the composite. For verification, the numerical results of elastic properties are compared with the analytical solution and it is found that there is a good agreement between these results.