Illustration of stress/strain behavior and yarn fragmentation in a pseudo-hybrid composite system

Abstract

To study the stress/strain behavior and the fragmentation of fibers in a hybrid composite in tensile loading, a model strand was constructed with cotton yarns as the low-elongation component and polyester yarns as the high-elongation component. The effect of interfacial shear strength on the performance of a hybrid composite was simulated by varying the twist multiplier of the strands. It was observed that a strand with a lower twist level was more likely to show a typical hybrid stress/strain behavior and a multi crack fragmentation pattern. The same was found for strands with the highest twist levels but with cotton contents between 22 and 33%.