Hybridization of Ductile Steel Fibre and SelfReinforced Composites

Abstract

Hybridization of ductile steel fibres and self-reinforced polypropylene (SRPP) is investigated. The goal is to create a material with a high specific stiffness (stiffness per density) while maintaining a high toughness of constituent materials. Three types of hybrids are produced to assess the effect of the stacking order on the tensile behaviour. The hybrid composites have shown to possess a five times higher stiffness and two times higher specific stiffness compared to the SRPP without any loss in toughness. The classical laminate theory was modified to account for non-linear behaviour of the plies and applied to predict tensile curves of the hybrid laminates.