Abstract
Many academic studies continue to conclude that natural fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites (NFTCs) have some potential to compete with mineral/inorganic fibre and filler reinforced composites in certain applications due to their distinctive characteristics. NFTCs are often presented as a more environmentally friendly product which may, in some cases, offer useful levels of specific strength and stiffness with an overall reduced carbon footprint. However, from an end-use composite performance viewpoint, issues with impact resistance (notched and un-notched) continue to hold back the large-scale implementation of these composites. This paper presents a review of the recent work on impact properties of NFTCs, analysing the effects of fundamental composite parameters and potential routes to improvement.
Highlights
There has been a strong growth in the applications using glass fiber (GF) and filler reinforced thermoplastic composites during the past half century
The increasing pressure of finite natural resources, cost competitiveness, the large amounts of energy required in manmade fiber production, environmental regulation, and growing environment awareness of society, have driven an increasing interest in natural fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites (NFTCs)
The reduced production energy of natural fibers (NF) is especially significant when compared to GF, with claims of ∼82% reduction in the energy required to produce a flax-fiber mat compared to a glass-fiber mat (Holbery and Houston, 2006)
Summary
Reviewed by: Debora Puglia, University of Perugia, Italy Rodrigo Cercená, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Brazil. Many academic studies continue to conclude that natural fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites (NFTCs) have some potential to compete with mineral/inorganic fiber and filler reinforced composites in certain applications due to their distinctive characteristics. NFTCs are often presented as a more environmentally friendly product which may, in some cases, offer useful levels of specific strength and stiffness with an overall reduced carbon footprint. From an end-use composite performance viewpoint, issues with impact resistance (notched and un-notched) continue to hold back the large-scale implementation of these composites. This paper presents a review of the recent work on impact properties of NFTCs, analysing the effects of fundamental composite parameters and potential routes to improvement
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