Prestrained twistless flax yarn as reinforcement for polymer‐matrix composites. Issue 3 (9th November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Magniez, Kevin; Zaidi, Badar Munir; Zhang, Jin; Miao, Menghe
• Is Part Of: Polymer composites. Volume 41:Issue 3(2020)
• Page Start: 930
• Page End: 938
• Publication Date: 2019-11-09
• Subjects: fiber orientation -- mechanical properties -- natural fibers -- prestrain; Polymeric composites -- Periodicals; 620.192
• DOI: 10.1002/pc.25424
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0272-8397

Abstract

Abstract: We report a technique to improve the mechanical performance of aligned fiber‐reinforced polymer‐matrix composites utilizing a twistless wrap‐spun yarn structure. Conventional wrap‐spinning technology introduces crimps to the yarn structure, which is a source of fiber misalignment in the final composites. Here, we report a twistless wrap‐spun yarn constructed from flax fibers and an extensible wrapping filament so that the yarn crimp can be removed during composite fabrication. This is achieved by applying a prestrain to the yarn while the resin is being cured during compression molding. The study demonstrates that this manufacturing technique can be simply and efficiently utilized to produce highly aligned and twistless natural fiber yarn‐reinforced polymeric composites with up to 25% and 45% improvements in mechanical properties.