Finite element modelling of the elastic and dynamic behaviour of nonwoven flax/polypropylene composite

2D and 3D finite element models of nonwoven flax/polypropylene composite are developed in this work to estimate its elastic and dynamic properties. These models are based on an in-plane random generation of the nonwoven flax fibres embedded in 2D and 3D networks of polypropylene (PP) matrix with porosities. First, the elastic properties of the flax/PP nonwoven composite are numerically predicted and a comparison with the experimental results from tensile tests is conducted. Second, the dynamic properties resulted from free vibration tests, at different fibre weight ratios and porosity contents, are numerically determined. Finally, the flax fibre damping is predicted using the strain energy method and the finite element results. This allows proposing a first estimation of the damping coefficient of this natural fibre.