Development of low-cost flax fibre preforms for high

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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

0

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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

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