A micromechanical model for the mechanical degradation of natural fiber reinforced composites induced by moisture absorption

This paper develops a micromechanical model to study the mechanical degradation of natural fiber reinforced composites (NFRCs) induced by moisture absorption. Since the moisture absorption and the mechanical degradation of the composite are correlated, a modified Mori-Tanaka method with a damage variable is proposed. A set of micromechanical equations are established to describe the modulus loss of NFRCs. After specifying this model with different inclusion shapes, the overall swelling deformation and the mechanical degradation of the randomly oriented and the unidirectional straight natural fiber reinforced composites are studied in detail. Theoretical predicted results of the randomly oriented straight fiber reinforced composite are compared with experimental ones from literature and a good agreement is obtained. Further numerical results demonstrate that a stiffer matrix can reduce both the moisture absorption and the mechanical degradation of natural fibers.