Mechanical behaviour and damage mechanisms analysis of a flax-fibre reinforced composite by acoustic emission

This article presents the mechanical characterization of an eco composite consisting of a thermoplastic matrix reinforced by flax fibres. Different configurations of specimens were tested with uniaxial tensile loading and their mechanical behaviours were discussed. Moreover, the acoustic emission technique was used to detect the appearance of damage mechanisms and to follow their evolution. In addition, a list of these mechanisms was established by means of macroscopic and microscopic observations. The acoustic emission records were post processed by the k-means unsupervised pattern recognition algorithm. Depending on the specimen configuration, three or four classes of events were obtained. The acoustic characteristics of these classes were compared. Then, a correlation between these AE events classes and the damage mechanisms observed was proposed. Their effects on the mechanical behaviour of the material were investigated by means of a variable called the Sentry Function.