Simulation of tensile behavior of plant fibers using the Discrete Element Method (DEM)

Abstract Tensile behaviors of plant fibers significantly affect mechanical performance of the fiber reinforced composites. A numerical model was developed to simulate the tensile behavior of a plant fiber using the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The model fiber was constructed with spherical particles bonded together. The model outputs were tensile strength ( σ macro ) and Young’s modulus ( E macro ) of fiber. Tensile tests were conducted to measure these two properties of hemp fiber to calibrate model micro-parameters. Simulation results showed that the most influential micro-parameters were micro-strength of the bond ( σ micro ) and Young’s modulus of particles ( E micro ). The following relationships were found: σ micro  = 1.89 σ macro and E micro =  0.99 E macro . Using the tensile test data of hemp fiber, the calibrated values were 721.81 MPa for σ micro and 19.50 GPa for E micro . With the results from this study, the micro-parameters can be determined for DE modeling of any plant fibers, such as flax and Jute.