Ricerc@Sapienza

Nowadays, there is a growing interest for the use and development of materials synthesized from renewable sources in the polymer composites manufacturing industry; this applies for both matrix and reinforcement components. In the present research, flax fibers embedded in an epoxy resin have been proposed as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional synthetic composites. In addition, this material system has been combined with agglomerated cork as core material for the fabrication of sandwich structures.

Natural fiber composites have the potential to be widely applied as an alternative to or in combination with glass fiber composites in sustainable energy-absorbing structures. This study investigates the behavior of hemp fiber-reinforced vinylester composites when subjected to low-velocity impact loading by using an instrumented falling weight impact equipment. Different stacking sequences are tested, including a hybrid pattern resulting from a combination of natural and traditional glass fibers. Both penetration and indentation tests are performed.