Effect of Water Absorption on the Behavior of Jute and Sisal Fiber Biocomposites at Different Lengths: ANN and RSM Modeling

Abstract

Artificial neural networks (ANN) and response surface method (RSM) modeling were used to study the effect of water absorption on the behavior of jute (JF/epoxy) and sisal (SF/epoxy) biocomposite. The specimens were laminated with short fibers of different lengths (5 mm, 10 mm, and 15 mm) of jute and sisal until saturation lasted about 25 days. The kinetic behavior of water uptake was recorded and then compared to the curves predicted by the two models. The results showed that the water absorption of the jute and sisal biocomposites was fairly lower for the 5 mm length compared to the 10 mm and 15 mm lengths. The optimized solution is attained with 1.00 desirability for 14.73 mm fiber length and 482.85 h immersion time. The RSM model error percentages were higher than the ANN model indicating better accuracy in predicting the water uptake of biocomposites by the ANN model compared to RSM. The results of this investigation offer benefits for the application of jute and sisal fiber biocomposites at the elaboration and application stage; it is easy for engineers to identify the swelling factor of these biocomposites without the need for experiments, thus avoiding costs and time.