Experimental and Numerical Calibration of Mechanical Properties for Banana Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites

Accurate calibration of the elastic-plastic behavior of materials is crucial for ensuring that numerical models accurately represent real-world material responses, thereby enhancing the reliability and predictive capabilities of simulations and engineering designs. The analytical method of obtaining mechanical properties is time-consuming. The Abaqus software offers a fast and exact means to determine the mechanical and elastic-plastic properties of materials. The study aims to determine the mechanical properties of biopolymer composites comprising banana fiber particles and high-density polyethylene with varying particle sizes. Tensile test experiments were conducted on the specimen, and the results were calibrated using Abaqus software. To study the behavior of particles in the matrix numerically, a computer program was written in Python to generate a representative volume element (RVE) for finite element analysis (FEA) of a homogeneous particle-reinforced polyethylene matrix. The experimental results show that the composites exhibited good mechanical properties, specifically with 65 mu m particles demonstrating superior mechanical properties. However, the 150 mu m particles showed a 31% higher Young's modulus than the 65 mu m sample, highlighting stiffness advantages at larger particle sizes. There is also an agreement between the experimental and numerical calibrated results. In addition, the RVE simulations showed that the incorporation of banana fiber significantly enhances the mechanical performance of the polymer matrix by impeding dislocation movement. The RVE results also identified critical regions where failure is most likely to occur, particularly at the fiber-matrix interface, where the highest strain was observed.