Abstract
The trend of research and adoption of natural plant-based fibre reinforced composites is increasing, with traditional synthetic fibres such as carbon and glass experiencing restrictions placed on their manufacture and use by legislative bodies due to their environmental impact through the entire product life cycle. Finding suitable alternatives to lightweight and high-performance synthetic composites will be of benefit to the automotive, marine and aerospace industries. This paper investigates the low-velocity impact (LVI) and flexural properties and damage characteristics of flax-carbon/epoxy hybrid composites to be used in structural lightweight applications. LVI, for example, is analogous to several real-life situations, such as damage during manufacture, feasibly due to human error such as the dropping of tools and mishandling of the finished product, debris strikes of aircraft flight, or even the collision of a vessel with another. Carbon fibre has been hybridised with flax fibres to achieve enhanced impact and flexural performance. The failure mechanisms of woven flax and flax-carbon epoxy hybrid composites have been further analysed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). It was observed from the experimental results that carbon fibre hybridisation has a significant effect on the impact and flexural properties and their damage modes. The results obtained from this study exhibited that the flexural strength and modulus of plain flax/epoxy composite increase significantly from 95.66 MPa to 425.87 MPa and 4.78 GPa to 17.90 GPa, respectively, with carbon fibre hybridisation. This significant improvement in flexural properties would provide designers with important information to make informed decisions during material selection for lightweight structural applications.
Highlights
The rise in global warming and the increased public awareness of the impact of pollution arising from the use of non-renewable sources is driving governments and business sectors to tackle climate change
The main goal of this study is to investigate the influence of carbon fibre hybridisation on the mechanical properties of carbon fibre epoxy, flax fibre epoxy, and a hybrid carbon/flax epoxy composite structure
The rise in the displacement curve is consistent with the travel of the hemispherical tup impacting the flax specimen and each layer taking up the slack, reaching the fracture point where the tup begins to traverse the topmost layer down consistently through each subsequent layer until it pierces the bottom-most layer
Summary
The rise in global warming and the increased public awareness of the impact of pollution arising from the use of non-renewable sources is driving governments and business sectors to tackle climate change. There are many initiatives undertaken to stabilise and reduce the impact of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) on the natural world. Natural fibres have a lower density and problem-free disposal, leading to them being a strong emerging alternative to synthetic fibres [2]. Composites Evolution [3] have produced a car door using a carbon/flax hybrid system. The company suggests that the mechanical properties of the carbon fibre are not significantly lost in a system where the inner layers of the composite structure are replaced with flax fibre. The flax fibre is Fibers 2019, 7, 95; doi:10.3390/fib7110095 www.mdpi.com/journal/fibers
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
