HELICOID FIBER ARCHITECTURES Natural Fibre Composites with Enhanced Impact damage Resistance via Bioinspired Helicoid Fiber Architectures

For the first time, we report on the design, manufacturing, and testing of impact performance of natural-fiber reinforced laminates (flax/epoxy) and glass-fiber reinforced laminates in conventional (quasi-isotropic, QI-0 degrees,45 degrees,90 degrees,-45 degrees) and bio-inspired Helicoid architectures, along with hybridization strategies to further improve impact resistance. We used two different sets of materials and processes: 1) prepreg and autoclave; and 2) non-crimp fabric and vacuum assisted resin transfer molding with epoxy. This is to be representative of different market applications. We then characterized the Helicoid and 01 samples using low-velocity impact tests up to the perforation limit of each configuration. We demonstrate that at equal weight, bioinspired hybrid Helicoid architectures made of 80% flax (by mass) achieve a similar perforation energy of conventional full (100%) glass fiber laminates. These results pave the way for a more extensive use of sustainable materials in high-performance applications.