Numerical study of hybrid composites containing basalt fibres under flexural loading

Abstract

In this study, a modelling approach based on finite element analysis (FEA) for predicting the flexural properties of fibre reinforced hybrid composites containing basalt fibres is presented. The FEA model was validated against the experimental data of various hybrid composites including carbon/basalt, E glass/basalt, aramid/basalt, flax/basalt and carbon/basalt/flax hybrid composites. With the developed FEA model, the carbon/basalt and glass/basalt hybrid composites of various degrees of hybridisation were investigated. It is shown that for the carbon/epoxy hybrid composite, the flexural strength can be improved via hybridisation with basalt fibres. For the other hybrid composites, no significant positive hybrid effects in the flexural strength exists.