Development of low-cost flax fibre preforms for high ...
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Development of low-cost fla x fibre pre forms for high-performance comp osites FlaxPreComp NANOFORCE research program
Transcript of Development of low-cost flax fibre preforms for high ...
Development of low-cost flax fibre preforms for high-performance
composites
FlaxPreCompNANOFORCE research program
Wavalin cvbaVlasbedrijf Verhalle nvVanacker Rubmeke bvbaEurolino bvba
Soieries Elite nv
Flipts & Dobbels nv
Flax fibreproduction
Yarnspinning
Weaving
Industrial partners (SMEs) Research partners
KU LeuvenMTMCIT – KULAK
UGentBioscience Engineering - Woodlab
The consortium
Outline
Why flax?
From plant to preform
Project results
Conclusion
Drawing of glass fibers [1] Drying of flax fibers [2]
[1] J. Amos, available from http://photography.nationalgeographic.com[2] S.N., available from http://www.focal.com/img/cms/technical-folders/flax/flax-field.jpg
Flax: a natural and durable material
Why flax?
✓ Renewable resource
✓ Recyclable (thermal)
✓ Biodegradable
✓ CO2 neutral
Flax: a natural and durable material
Why flax?
✓ Renewable resource
✓ Recyclable (thermal)
✓ Biodegradable
✓ CO2 neutral
✓ Low embodied energy
286MJ/kg
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0 100
Emb
od
ied
En
ergy
(M
J/lit
er)
Onlypolymer
Only carbon fibres
Only Glass fibres
Only flax fibres
Hybrid CF + flax
Fibre volume fraction (%)
Composites: embodied energy/liter
Flax fibres: light and stiff
Specific stiffness = stiffness / density
✓ Key design parameter for lightweight constructions
✓ Indicates weight benefit energy reduction during use phase
Outline
Why flax?
From plant to preform
Project results
Conclusion
Location of the fibres in the stem
Charlet et al., 2011
Extracting flax fibres for non-technical preforms
Retting
Retting
Misalignment
NOT IDEAL FOR COMPOSITE
APPLICATIONS
Increasing cost – fibre damage - misalignment
Extracting flax fibres for technical preforms
Retting
Increasing cost – fibre damage - misalignment
Extracting flax fibres for technical preforms
Outline
Why flax?
From plant to preform
Project results
Conclusion
Composite performance of scutched fibres
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S1 S2 S3 S4 H
Bac
k-ca
lcu
late
d fi
bre
sti
ffn
ess
(GPa
)
Fibre stiffness
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S1 S2 S3 S4 H
Bac
k-ca
lcu
late
d fi
bre
str
engt
h (
MPa
)
Fibre strength
Longitudinal performance of scutched and hackled fibres is nearlyidentical
Composite performance of scutched fibres
Transverse performance of scutched fibre composites is lower
A mild refinement operation (≠ hackling) increases performace by25%
Fibre orientation in UD preforms
Optical (surface)
CT (thickness)
Low-twist yarns and low-crimp weaves
Low-twist yarns decreased misorientation of the fibres
Lower twist in yarns decreased crimp in weaves
Elliptical yarn shape
Winding filament
High crimp
Low crimp
Performance of low-crimp weaves
F. Bensadoun, 2016
FlaxPreComp
Performance of low-crimp weaves
+15%
Outline
Why flax?
From plant to preform
Project results
Conclusion
Conclusion
✓ Developed a novel alignment and fixation method to produce preforms, starting from scutched flax fibres
✓ Performance of scutched fibres matches that of hackled fibres
✓ Fibre orientation in the preforms can be monitored throughsurface scans
✓ Low-twist yarns and low-crimp weaves have been producedsuccessfully
