The latest issue of the SAMPE Journal highlights Sustainability, Recycling and Biomaterials. In this issue:

Leadership Q&A Column - Featuring Kay Blohowiak, Senior Technical Fellow, Boeing Research & Technology

A Review of the 2nd Annual Materials Innovation & Advanced Technology Leadership Forum

Natural Fibre Composites with Enhanced Impact-damage Resistance via Bioinspired Helicoid Fiber Architectures

Lorenzo Mencattelli

Helicoid Industries Inc., Indio, CA

Jia Long Liu, Ping Yee Chua, Van Pham Nguyen Hong, Vincent B C Tan, Tong-Earn Tay

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, SP

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°,45°,90°,-45°) 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 QI 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.