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Contribution of wood fiber hygroexpansion to moisture induced thickness swelling of composite plates
Author(s) -
Almgren Karin M.,
Gamstedt E. Kristofer,
Varna Janis
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
polymer composites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1548-0569
pISSN - 0272-8397
DOI - 10.1002/pc.20858
Subject(s) - composite material , materials science , composite number , swelling , micromechanics , fiber , transverse plane , moisture , structural engineering , engineering
One of the main drawbacks of wood fiber‐based composite materials is their propensity to swell due to moisture uptake. Because the wood fibers are usually the main contributor to hygroexpansion, it is of interest to quantify the hygroexpansion coefficient of wood fibers, to compare and rank different types of fibers. This investigation outlines an inverse method to estimate the transverse hygroexpansion coefficient of wood fibers based on measurements of moisture induced thickness swelling of composite plates. The model is based on composite micromechanics and laminate theory. Thickness swelling has been measured on polylactide matrix composites with either bleached reference fibers or crosslinked fibers. The crosslinking modification reduced the transverse hygroexpansion of the composites and the transverse coefficient of hygroexpansion of the fibers was reduced from 0.28 strain per relative humidity for reference fibers to 0.12 for cross‐linked fibers. POLYM. COMPOS., 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers