Damping properties of flax/carbon hybrid epoxy/fibre-reinforced composites for automotive semi-structural applications.

Fairlie, George; Njuguna, James

Abstract

The ever-increasing demand for environmentally friendly biocomposites for use in various engineering applications requires a strong understanding of these materials properties, especially in automotive applications. This study focused on investigating how the stacking sequence and fibre orientation impacts the damping properties of hybrid flax/carbon fibre-reinforced composites. Different hybrid carbon fibre/flax fibre-reinforced composites using epoxy resin as the matrix were manufactured using vacuum-assisted resin infusion moulding technique. Each composite material was then tested for tensile properties using a universal testing machine, and the damping experiment was conducted using an impulse hammer and a Laser Doppler Vibrometer. The tensile study found out that adding a flax layer to the external layers of carbon fibre laminate reduced Young’s modulus by 28% for one layer and 45% for two layers. It was noted that when the fibre orientation of the internal layer of [C/F2/C]s was replaced with two ±45° layers, this had a very little effect on Young’s modulus but reduced the ultimate tensile strength by 61%. This experimental study also showed that the most important layer when it comes to damping properties is the external layers. By adding an external flax layer into an epoxy/carbon fibre-reinforced composite considerably enhanced its damping ratio by 53.6% and by adding two layers increased it by 94%. The results indicated a high potential for the automotive semi-structural applications to improve damping properties of the vehicle.

Citation

FAIRLIE, G. and NJUGUNA, J. 2020. Damping properties of flax/carbon hybrid epoxy/fibre-reinforced composites for automotive semi-structural applications. Fibers [online], 8(10), article ID 64. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/fib8100064

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 28, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 8, 2020
• Publication Date: Oct 31, 2020
• Deposit Date: Oct 8, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 8, 2020
• Journal: Fibers
• Electronic ISSN: 2079-6439
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 10
• Article Number: 64
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/fib8100064
• Keywords: Flax fibre; Carbon fibre; Epoxy; Biocomposites; Hybrid composites; Epoxy/fibre-reinforced composites; Tensile properties; Damping properties; Automotive materials
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/973172