Hybrid fabrics for use in bio-based composites for technical applications

This feasibility study investigates the mechanical properties of novel hybrid biocomposites for lightweight applications, which include high content of components based on renewable feedstock and at the same time show high mechanical performance. In contrast to established synthetic hybrid composites containing different types of synthetic fibers in a one composite, this is a combination of synthetic high-performance fibers with natural fibers in one reinforcing textile manufactured using a weaving technique. The investigated bio-hybrid woven textiles contain a combination of flax with glass or carbon fibers. In this study the bending properties of the bio-hybrid textile composites are evaluated in comparison with biocomposites containing merely flax textiles. The biocomposites are manufactured by embedding the hybrid fabrics into a bio-based epoxy matrix. The results show that the use of the hybrid woven textiles with a mass fraction of natural fibers corresponding to 50% enables manufacture of biocomposites with significantly higher bending properties compared with flax fiber-reinforced biocomposites. Furthermore, the achieved values are comparable with those of the sandwich-structured hybrid biocomposites.