A comparative study of analytical and numerical models of mechanical properties of composites and hybrid composites reinforced with natural reinforcements

Abstract

This present research aims to predict the mechanical behavior of the composite and hybrid composites based on a polypropylene matrix (PP) reinforced by organic/inorganic naturally occurring fillers using analytical and numerical models. It also aims to demonstrate the effect of hybridization on the global stiffness of the material. In this study, Voigt-Reuss models, Halpin-Tsai equations, the Hirsch model, and numerical simulation are applied to predict the effective elastic moduli of hybrid composites/composites with clay and other alfa fillers. The results obtained are compared with experimental data. Hirsch’s results match well with the experimental results for the alfa/PP composite. However, the values of the Halpin-Tsai model showed a good agreement with the experimental results for the alfa-clay/PP hybrid composite. The numerical results show good accordance with the experimental results with higher accuracy. The overall results provided a good indication of the effects of hybridization on the stiffness of the final hybrid composites.