The capability of ABAQUS/CAE to predict the tensile properties of sisal fiber reinforced polyethylene terephthalate composites

Plastics reinforced by natural fibers attract growing attention, particularly in the automotive industry. The properties and performance of these composites are usually determined before application. However, many mechanical tests of composite materials are destructive, expensive, time-consuming, and can cause operator fatigue. The objective of this research is to model the tensile properties of sisal fiber reinforced polyethylene terephthalate (PET) composites and compare the model outcomes with the results of experimental tests. For the experiment, PET was reinforced with 25% wt. of sisal fiber and composite samples were produced by compounding and injection molding processes. Modeling and simulation have also been carried out with ABAQUS/CAE software. The outputs on the tensile properties of the experiment and the model were statistically compared to see the accuracy of the model against the experimental results. The two-sample t-test indicates that, at 95% confidence interval, the mean differences for the stress, strain, and modulus for the experimental tests and the model results are not significantly different from zero. The research shows that the experiment can be effectively modeled with ABAQUS-based modeling and simulation techniques by linking with appropriate mathematical predictive models.