The elastic properties of natural fibre reinforced composite materials using homogenisation modeling

The numerical simulation of composite materials brings in a challenge in the resolution of problems with a high nonlinearity of both, material, and geometry (geometrically complex structures), with different size scales. Some common examples such as additive manufacturing 3D, metal alloys, porous media, polycrystalline materials and composites, a significant computing challenge is shown where all length scales are resolved by a single finite element model. This would require many elements, and computing the solution would be unfeasible, even using modern and near-future computing resources. The standard way to solve this situation of scale in finite element analysis is numerical homogenization technique. Material properties for a composite material are average, instead of simulating the full microstructure. With homogenized material data, it only required a macroscopic simulation using significantly less computational sources. The mechanical behavior of composites materials reinforced with natural fibers, is studied by means of a short fiber composite numerical model. The influence that the spatial distribution and the volumetric fraction of the cylindrical fibers have on the effective elastic properties of the numerical model was established (Young´s modulus E, Shear modulus G, Poisson´s ratio) - curves are presented corresponding to tension test applied on fique fibers and polylactic acid-biopolymer.