Fabric reinforced laminae and laminates with starch-epoxy matrix

Abstract

Despite their mechanical properties, lower than the fibers ones, the fabrics are more and more used as reinforcements in composites applications due their capacity to allow draping in order to form materials and/or structures with sinuous surfaces. The present study is connected to the idea of forming multi-plies composites with the same matrix but with different types of fabrics as reinforcement in order to maximize more than one mechanical property by design means. Fabric reinforced laminae are tested in order to identify the optimal orientation of each type of fabric inside the material. Three types of fabric are used to form epoxy matrix laminae which are tensile tested. All the fabrics were specially prepared to ensure a better adhesion of epoxy resin.