Quasi-static behaviour and damage assessment of flax/epoxy composites

Experimental investigations were conducted on flax and E-glass fibres reinforced epoxy matrix composites subjected to quasi-static loadings. Flax/epoxy samples having [0](12), [90](12), [0/90](3S) and [+/- 45](3S) stacking sequences, with a fibre volume fraction of 43% have been tested under tension, compression and in-plane shear loadings. Overall, the compression strength of glass/epoxy was 76% greater than for the flax/epoxy composite. The damage evolution of flax/epoxy of [0/90](3S) and [+/- 45](3S) samples has been evaluated in terms of transverse crack densities with respect to the load increment. The crack density exhibited a classical ``S'' shaped pattern for [0/90](3S) and linearly for [+/- 45](3S) specimens versus the applied load. The final crack densities were respectively of 32/cm and 25/cm for the [0/90](3S) and [+/- 45](3S) samples. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.