Identification Scheme to Assess the Role of Interfacial Damage in a Hemp-Starch Biocomposite

This paper aims at studying the effect of interfacial damage on the mechanical behavior of starch - hemp composite. The procedure encompasses an experimental investigation towards the determination of microstructural features and mechanical testing of the material. A finite element model is developed to account for a particular damage kinetics that triggers failure properties. Our results show that the experimental evidence of interfacial damage driven failure is achieved. Finite element model is able to capture this feature using an abrupt damage criterion. But in order to identify the observed behavior, the experimental response is matched with the numerical one. This process tunes the mechanical parameters to fit the experimental response. The optimization process conducted in this way leads to a precise determination of the mechanical parameters that quantifies the observed ultimate properties.