Invited Speaker

Abstract: Impact damage mechanisms of natural plant fiber reinforced composites are essential for their structural design and practical applications. This study reports quasi-static and dynamic compressive behaviors of three-dimensional braided ramie fiber reinforced composites (3DRFRC) and the comparison with carbon fiber reinforced composites (3DCFRC). The results show that the 3DRFRC has a long yield stage under the quasi-static compression owing to ramie fiber bend. The 3DRFRC exhibits higher in-plane dynamic compressive properties than those of the 3DCFRC, and the energy absorption rate (EAR) of the former is 27% more than that of the latter at 30J impact energy. EAR of the four-directional in the 3DRFRC exceeds 90% under dynamic compression and is higher than that of the five-directional owing to more accessible deformations. The FEA results show that the resin damage in yarn was the leading cause of yarn damage under dynamic compression. The ramie fiber bend and lumen collapse are micro-scale damage mechanisms of the 3DRFRC under in-plane and out-of-plane dynamic compression, respectively.

Keywords: 3-Dimensional reinforcement, impact behavior, finite element analysis (FEA), damage mechanics, braiding.

Biography: Dr. CAI Ming is a Master's Supervisor at Shanghai University of Engineering Science. She holds a dual PhD in Mechanics, awarded jointly by Tongji University (China) and Tokushima University (Japan) from 2011 to 2018. Following her doctoral studies, she conducted postdoctoral research at Donghua University (China) in 2020. During 2023–2024, she was a Visiting Scholar at the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore). Her research focuses on the durability, interfacial properties, impact resistance, and 3D printing of plant fiber-reinforced composites.