Processability of Biobased Thermoset Resins and Flax Fibres Reinforcements Using Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding

Abstract

Biocomposite panels consisting of biobased thermoset resins (EP, PU, UP, and tannin) and flax fibre reinforcements were produced using the vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding process. Panels based on a conventional chemical-based resin matrix were also produced, and investigated comparatively. Rheometric analyses were performed to evaluate the suitability of these resins for liquid composite moulding. Tensile, shear, and impactbending tests have been carried out to assess the quality and mechanical performance of manufactured laminates. The impregnation quality was assessed by means of ultrasonic-C-scanning and microscopy. It turned out that the properties of the biobased composite panels made of biobased epoxy resin and a biobased UP-resin from the company Nuplex in New Zealand were onlay slightly inferior to those produced with a conventional epoxy resin. A biobased PU-resin from the company USSC in the USA developed voids during curing. A tannin-based resin containing of formaldehyde was not processable.

Dynamic Curing Agents for Amine-Hardened Epoxy Vitrimers with Short (Re)processing Times

“…Indeed, low-viscosity epoxy precursors show several benefits such as good adhesion and wettability of the resins. Moreover, they allow for their use in a variety of processing techniques such as resin transfer molding 49 or vacuum infusion, 50 which are used to obtain composite materials such as wind turbine blades. To achieve this low viscosity, the amount of branching needs to be kept low.…”

Applications of Lightweight Composites in Automotive Industries

“…Francucci et al (78) made natural fiber reinforced vinyl ester composites via VARTM process and found that the capillary pressure was significantly higher in natural fiber than in synthetic fiber fabrics. Most recently, Schuster et al (108) fabricated composite panels made of flax fiber and bio-based thermoset resins using VARTM and found out that bio-based resins can be used successfully to impregnate natural fibers using VARTM process without further chemical improvements such as dilutants to reduce the viscosity.…”

Physical-Mechanical Characterization of Moriche Natural Fibre (Mauritia flexuosa) and Composite with Bio-epoxy Resin

“…Once the fibre has been characterized and validated, it is used as a reinforcement to make a biocomposite through the vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding process (VARTM) [19], with an epoxy resin matrix obtained from agro-industrial waste [20]. The material obtained is mechanically characterized by tensile and bending tests using ASTM D3039/ D3039M-14 [21] and ASTM D790-15 [22] standards, respectively.…”