Due to the growing environmental awareness, the development of sustainable green composites is in high demand in composite industries, mainly in the automotive, aircraft, construction and marine applications. This work was an attempt to experimentally and numerically investigate the dynamic characteristics of Woven Flax/Bio epoxy laminated composite plates. In addition, the optimisation study on the dynamic behaviours of the Woven Flax/Bio epoxy composite plate is carried out using the response surface methodology (RSM) by consideration of the various parameters like ply orientation, boundary condition and aspect ratio. The elastic constants of the Woven Flax/Bio epoxy composite lamina needed for the numerical simulation are determined experimentally using two methods, i.e., the usual mechanical tests as well as through the impulse excitation of vibration-based approach and made a comparison between them. The numerical analysis on the free vibration characteristics of the composite was carried out using ANSYS, a finite element analysis (FEA) software. The confirmation of the FE model was accomplished by comparing the numerical results with its experimental counterpart. Finally, a comparison was made between the results obtained through the regression equation and finite element analysis.

The evolution of a sustainable green composite in various loadbearing structural applications tends to reduce pollution, which in turn enhances environmental sustainability. This work is an attempt to promote a sustainable green composite in buckling loadbearing structural applications. In order to use the green composite in various structural applications, the knowledge on its structural stability is a must. As the structural instability leads to the buckling of the composite structure when it is under an axial compressive load, the work on its buckling characteristics is important. In this work, the buckling characteristics of a woven flax/bio epoxy (WFBE) laminated composite plate are investigated experimentally and numerically when subjected to an axial compressive load. In order to accomplish the optimization study on the buckling characteristics of the composite plate among various structural criterions such as number of layers, the width of the plate and the ply orientation, the optimization tool “response surface methodology” (RSM) is used in this work. The validation of the developed finite element model in Analysis System (ANSYS) version 16 is carried out by comparing the critical buckling loads obtained from the experimental test and numerical simulation for three out of twenty samples. A comparison is then made between the numerical results obtained through ANSYS16 and the results generated using the regression equation. It is concluded that the buckling strength of the composite escalates with the number of layers, the change in width and the ply orientation. It is also noted that the weaving model of the fabric powers the buckling behavior of the composite. This work explores the feasibility of the use of the developed green composite in various buckling loadbearing structural applications. Due to the compromised buckling characteristics of the green composite with the synthetic composite, it has the capability of replacing many synthetic composites, which in turn enhances the sustainability of the environment.

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Anisotropic nature of plant fiber and various plant fiber-correlated porosities are the major setbacks in evaluating the elastic constants of plant fiber-reinforced polymer composites theoretically. An attempt is made here to get rid of those setbacks and focuses toward the evaluation of accurate elastic constants of composites. In this work, mechanical characteristics such as tensile, flexure, and shear characteristics of woven jute/epoxy and woven aloe/epoxy composites are determined. The experimentally measured elastic constants of composites are further used to find the elastic anisotropy of the jute and aloe fibers using the proposed model which is a combined model of Halpin-Tsai equations and laminate analogy approach with the inclusion of porosity correction factor. Using the theoretically predicted elastic properties of fiber, the elastic constants of the tapered laminated woven jute/epoxy and woven aloe/epoxy composites are evaluated using the proposed model.

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Composite materials are blended in such a way that their properties are multi-fold their components' properties. The use of green materials, as components, makes the product eco-friendly and that needs to prove product quality. This work identifies the fatigue limit of 3D-modeled composite laminate and virtually predicts the fatigue life cycle under a certain fatigue load. The 3D model is assigned with the properties of the different combinations of epoxy composite and fatigue analysis is carried out. The epoxy composite considered in the analysis has fly ash, boron nitride (BN), and sugarcane (SC) fiber as reinforcements. A central composite design (CCD) method under response surface methodology (RSM) has been used to develop the experimental trials. The regression equations of the RSM model are utilized to study the influences of reinforcements and their wt. % in the determined fatigue limit and fatigue life cycle. The results show that the fatigue limit of the composite is maximum when the wt. % of fly ash and BN is 2% and 1%, respectively. However, the fatigue life cycle is maximum with 2% wt. of sugarcane (1982 × 10³ cycles) amidst minimum fly ash and BN. This work emphasizes the blending of specific wt. % of reinforcement in epoxy has significant control on the fatigue properties of the composites.