Study onThe Moisture Absorption Properties of jute Fiber Reinforced Composites

Abstract

Fiber-reinforced composites (FRP) have gradually become an important direction for the development of new materials due to their various excellent properties since their development. However, traditional glass fibers, carbon fibers, basalt fibers, etc. have various problems such as cost and environmental pollution, in contrast to natural crop fibers which are low-priced, widely available and environmentally friendly. In order to verify the service characteristics of jute fiber, one of the representatives of natural fibers, in complex environments, jute fiber reinforced composite laminates were prepared using Vacuum Assisted Resin Infusion (VARI) process, and the moisture absorption properties of the laminates were investigated and the influence law and mechanism of four temperatures and two fiber plies on the water absorption and diffusion properties of the laminates were analyzed. The results show that: the moisture absorption process of the laminate conforms to Fick’s second law, but the applicability of Fick’s second law decreases as the temperature increases; the moisture absorption rate of the laminate increases exponentially as the temperature increases, but the saturation rate decreases, and the corrosion rate of the laminate increases; the increase in the number of plies of the laminate affects the increase in the time to reach the saturation rate of the laminate, and the diffusion coefficient increases; the service performance of 6-layer laminate is better in the same hygrothermal environment.