Low velocity impact properties of flax composites

The investigation of the impact performance of flax-based composites is the key in order to understand which material parameters determine the safety and longevity of flax composite products. In this study, the effect of fibre architectures and matrix type on the absorbed energy after perforation, on the damage resistance as well as on the residual properties after impact were investigated. The matrix choice (epoxy vs MAPP) was found to greatly influence the absorbed energy as well as the damage area. The absorbed energy at perforation for the flax-MAPP composite was more than 50% higher compared to the flax-epoxy composites. Overall, the type of architecture has been found to have a limited effect on the absorbed energy at perforation. Furthermore, the use of a ductile thermoplastic matrix results in a decreased impact damage area by 38–59% with little delamination growth. The flax-epoxy composites experienced a stronger decrease in properties after impact, however these quasi-static properties are still much higher than the flax-MAPP composites.