An investigation into mechanical properties of jute–polyester laminates for numerical prediction of strength and failure

Abstract The study of natural fiber–based composites, which are being seen as a potential eco‐friendly alternative to popular synthetic fiber–reinforced composites, has, of late, gained considerable momentum. Replacing the latter composites is, however, an uphill task especially for advanced mechanical and structural engineering applications, which often require assessment of behaviors of materials and components numerically till failure. An implied scenario, for example, would be to design automotive body components using natural fiber–reinforced composites of sufficient strength for meeting crashworthiness requirements. In the current study, bi‐directionally woven jute fabric, due to its established supply base and consistent quality, has been chosen along with a general purpose polyester resin for fabrication of laminates of high fiber volume fraction obtained by combining the hand layup method with compression molding. A detailed and comprehensive mechanical characterization includes, for the first time, determination of tensile, compressive, shear, and flexural behaviors of jute–polyester laminates in a single unified study. The consistency of the generated mechanical properties, including deployment of secant moduli instead of conventional initial tangent moduli, in a finite element constitutive model is established by predicting the test‐based stress–strain or load–displacement behaviors and failure modes using a commercially available explicit nonlinear dynamic analysis code viz. LS‐DYNA.