Environmental Effects on the Static and Fatigue Behaviours of Hemp Fibre under Tensile Loading

Abstract

Environmental and loading mode effects on the tensile properties of Hemp fibre were investigated. At first, absorption of moisture into the fibre from ambient air and absorption of water into the fibre in immersion were studied. Then static and cyclic loadings tensile tests were conducted in various temperature and humidity conditions. It was found that, in ambient air (0% < RH < 80%) the moisture content of the studied fibre decreased with the increase of temperature conformed to the GAB model suggesting a multilayer absorption mechanism. On the contrary, for the fibre immersed in water, the moisture content increased with the increase of temperature. The activation of temperature on the diffusion of the water into the fibre by micro-pores and lumens jointly with the lack of possibility for the imprisoned water to evaporate might be the cause of this effect. Experimental results suggested that temperature and humidity could individually reduce the mechanical properties of Hemp fibre. Their interaction caused even a more harmful effect. Semi empirical and neural networks were used to predict the hygro-thermal effects on the mechanical properties under static tensile loading. Broken surfaces of the specimens were also examined showing different failure modes for static and cyclic tensile loadings. Finally, the value of the cellulose micro-fibrils angle (MFA) estimated using the static tensile stress-strain curve was 8.4o±1.9o.