Numerical characterization of the humidity effect on the fiber-matrix interface damage of hybrid composite material based on vinyl ester polymer matrix for engineering applications

In the literature, it has been shown that the humidity phenomenon constitutes a major problem for composites with a thermosetting matrix with ester functions. In this context, we have investigated the effect of humidity on the fiber-matrix interface damage of hybrid composite materials: carbon-glass/polyester and carbon-glass/vinyl ester, using a genetic approach based on Weibull probabilistic formalism and the law of diffusion. Our results show that the level of damage is linked to the concentration of the mechanical stresses applied, for these materials studied, and show that the vinyl ester matrix polymer has improved the mechanical and physical properties of the fiber-matrix interface of our hybrid composite material, with a humidity level of 24% lower compared to the other material constituted from the polyester matrix. The statistical analysis based on the values of the correlation coefficients, which are very near to 1, has proved the convergence of our genetic results. Our results are in good agreement with the results found by Fayolle et al. (2005) and Ganem (1992) where they confirmed that the vinyl ester matrix is more resistant to moisture than the polyester matrix and that the same finding was confirmed by Manh Vu et al. (Polym. Bull. 77, 357–374, 2020) and Jaswal et al. (Polym. Bull., 2021). Finally, the hybrid composite material proposed in this study will be promoter candidates to be exploited in wetlands.