Analysis of the deformability of flax-fibre nonwoven fabrics during manufacturing

Abstract

The use of natural fibres for technical advanced products such as composites is widely increasing with the view to reduce the impact of the material throughout its life cycle on the environment. Some work has been performed on natural fibre based reinforcement textiles for composite materials. The mechanical and the formability behaviours of woven fabrics has particularly been characterised. However, few research work concerns the forming aptitude of nonwoven fabrics despite promising preliminary studies. In the present work, the mechanical characterizations of flax-fibre nonwoven reinforcements are carried out firstly. Then the forming tests of the nonwoven fabrics are performed to quantify their formability behaviour. The tensile and forming tests showed very different mechanical behaviours in comparison to the ones observed on woven fabrics due to the non-uniformity of nonwoven fabric. The high deformation potential of the nonwoven fabrics is established. The specific behaviour of the nonwoven fabrics is studied by analysing the local and global deformation mechanisms of the reinforcement during forming. Moreover, the manufacturing defects experienced in nonwoven fabric forming are demonstrated. The slippage/damage of network is a typical problem in the nonwoven fabric forming, which depends strongly on the fibre density (area density) of fabric and blank-holder pressure.

Specific features of flax fibres used to manufacture composite materials

“…It is also possible to form non-woven fabrics [177] with relatively complex shapes such as hemispherical or corners. The main mechanism associated with non-woven textile forming is the movement of fibres within the fabric to accommodate the shape.…”

Tenso-Resistive Printed Sensors for Flexible Elements of Systems and Mechanisms

“…Использование в качестве подложек различных сенсоров нетканых материалов в настоящее время распространено мало [9][10][11]. Нетканые материалы, в общем, могут быть определены как листовые или сетевые структуры, соединенные вместе механическим, термическим или химическим переплетением волокон или нитей (перфорацией пленок).…”

“…Нетканые материалы, в общем, могут быть определены как листовые или сетевые структуры, соединенные вместе механическим, термическим или химическим переплетением волокон или нитей (перфорацией пленок). Они не могут быть изготовлены плетением или вязанием и не требуют прядения [10]. В [9,11] приводятся существующие и потенциальные применения нетканых материалов, включая энергетику и электронику, оборонную промышленность и биотехнологии (рис.…”

“…Деформационные свойства, структура, вопросы кристаллизации и ориентирования волокон нетканых материалов изучались в [9,10,12,13], в том числе наполненных углеродными нанотрубками с точки зрения применимости для носимой электроники [12].…”

Flax roving twisting preparation for weaving and effect of the weft layers number on the physical and mechanical properties of 3D interlock flax fabric

“…Therefore, the development of suitable staple spun roving for the composite reinforcement manufacture still a challenging research domain. The bast natural fibers are used currently in form of mat of randomly oriented fibers, unidirectional prepreg, 2D woven fabric and non-crimp fabric [6][7][8]. However, the potential of use of the natural fiber to manufacture 3D preform is not completely investigated.…”