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Micromechanical Simulations on Hygro-Mechanical Properties of Bio-fiber Plastic Composites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Yibin Xue  and
Kunpeng Wang
Yibin Xue
Affiliation:
axue@cavs.msstate.edu, Mississippi State University, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systerms, 124 Northgate Dr., Starkville, MS, 39759, United States
Kunpeng Wang
Affiliation:
kpwang@student.dlut.edu.cn, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, N/A, China, People's Republic of
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Abstract

The hygro-mechanical properties of bio-fiber composites comprise two aspects: the coupling between moisture diffusion and mechanical deformations and the coupling of moisture contents and the constitutive behaviors. Bio-fiber is hydrophilic, which absorbs water promptly when environmental moisture content increases; as the moisture content in the fiber increases, its mechanical properties decrease. This paper presents a series of micromechanical simulations to predict the hygro-mechanical behaviors of woodfiber-reinforced plastic composites considering the effects of fiber arrangements on the stress-strain relations and moisture-expansions on three progressively constructed constitutive configurations: 1) the fiber is elastic orthotropic and expandable under moisture variations; the plastic matrix is elastic isotropic and insensitive to environmental moisture variations, and the interface between fiber and matrix is perfectly bounded; 2) the plastic matrix is hyperelastic and expresses a certain degree of damage as deformation progresses; and 3) the interface has a pseudo adhesive layer that obeys Smith and Ferrante's universal binding law implemented as a cohesive zone model in the micromechanical simulation. In configuration II, micromechanical simulations demonstrate significant reductions in the nominal elastic modulus of composites when a nonlinear elastic model for the polymer matrix is assumed. The prediction for stress-strain relationship is found to be comparable to the experimental measurements. A cohesive model in configuration III is introduced to evaluate the possible moisture degradation to the fiber-matrix interface, which results in a reduction in elastic modulus and failure strength of the composite s, as observed in experiments. The cohesive zone model parameters as a function of moisture content in the composites requires more attention in model correlation and guarantee more direct experimental observations.

Keywords

compositebiomaterialpolymer
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1097: Symposium GG – Mechanical Behavior of Biological Materials and Biomaterials , 2008 , 1097-GG04-20
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

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