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Development of woven and quasi-unidirectional reinforcement fabrics with hemp fibers: study of mechanical and preforming behaviors

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Abstract

The use of hemp fibers for the manufacturing of reinforcements for composite materials is not well common, despite a growing interest of natural fibers in this field of application. In addition to the choice of the type of fiber used, the choice of the type of reinforcement plays an important role in the final properties of the composite material. Unidirectional or woven fabrics are widely used as reinforcement to achieve advanced properties at the scale of composite, depending on the specifications of the final material. In this study, a quasi-unidirectional fabric and two woven fabrics (one balanced and one unbalanced in terms of fiber content) are studied to compare their properties at different levels: mechanical and preforming properties of the reinforcements in dry state and mechanical properties of composite materials reinforced by these fabrics. The objective is to highlight the advantages and drawbacks of both types of reinforcements (woven fabrics and quasi-unidirectional fabrics) in order to be able to select the most suitable reinforcement according to the specifications of the final composite part. As a result, the quasi-unidirectional reinforcement showed enhanced properties both at fabric and composite scale. These structures based on hemp fibers present promising properties that concur structures made of flax and already available on the market.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Italian company Linificio and Canapificio Nazionale (LCN) for providing the hemp roving used in this study.

Funding

This project was funded by "Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking" under the "European Union's Horizon 2020" Research and Innovation Program with Grant Agreement No. 744349—SSUCHY Project and Hauts de France Region.

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  1. University of Lille, ENSAIT – GEMTEX , 59000, Lille, France

    Chaimae Laqraa, Ahmad Rashed Labanieh, Damien Soulat & Manuela Ferreira

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  1. Chaimae Laqraa
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  2. Ahmad Rashed Labanieh
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  3. Damien Soulat
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  4. Manuela Ferreira
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Chaimae Laqraa and Ahmad Rashed Labanieh. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Damien Soulat, Ahmad Rashed Labanieh, Chaimae Laqraa and Manuela Ferreira and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chaimae Laqraa.

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Laqraa, C., Labanieh, A.R., Soulat, D. et al. Development of woven and quasi-unidirectional reinforcement fabrics with hemp fibers: study of mechanical and preforming behaviors. Int J Mater Form 16, 8 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12289-022-01727-y

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