Modelling the influence of 3D plant fibres morphology on their tensile behaviour

International audienceThis study proposes to investigate the influence of the 3D morphology of plant fibres on their tensile behaviour. A numerical approach is proposed. An isotropic viscoelastic constitutive law in a material rotating frame is used to model the behaviour of the fibre wall.Different simplified geometries are simulated using FE Abaqus® software. Results show that the degree of ellepticity of the cross-section of the fibre strongly influences its non-linear tensile response. Such geometrical issues could explain partly the large scattering in tensile response experimentally observed when testing plant fibres. It could more exactly explain the two types of non-linear tensile behaviour generally observed for hemp fibres