INFLUENCE OF MOISTURE ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CELLULOSE INSULATION PAPER

This paper aims to investigate the impact of moisture on mechanical properties of insulation paper. According to the molecular modeling approach proposed by Theodorou, the amorphous cellulose models of insulation paper with different moisture contents were built up to calculate mechanical parameters and hydrogen bond networks. And relevant conclusions could be drawn through further analysis on these calculation results: water molecules can destroy hydrogen bond network between the neighboring cellulose molecules, which might be responsible for the significant decrease of Young's modulus and other mechanical parameters, while no appreciable effect of intramolecular hydrogen bonds on mechanical properties was detected. Thus tensile tests were also carried out to study the moisture influence on the Young's modulus, by which the result of the simulation was approved.