Article

Journal of Reinforced Plastics

and Composites

Natural fiber-based reinforcements in 30(23) 1947–1955

! The Author(s) 2011
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DOI: 10.1177/0731684411431019
winding jrp.sagepub.com

Päivi Lehtiniemi1, Kari Dufva2, Tommi Berg1, Mikael Skrifvars1

and Pentti Järvelä1

Abstract
Single natural fibers have rather high mechanical properties; especially, Young’s modulus can be as high as for E-glass
fibers. However, the good properties of natural fibers are not exploited efficiently in existing applications. Continuous
fibers are required for high-performance applications. Filament winding is a method to produce aligned technical com-
posites which have high fiber content. This work studied the mechanical properties of natural fiber yarn-reinforced
composites. Flax and viscose fiber tubular composite samples were produced by filament winding and their properties
were compared with the properties of E-glass fiber composites. The flax fiber yarn could be wound to produce a
relatively stiff composite tube but poor adhesion between the matrix and fibers affected the properties. The properties
of the E-glass fiber composites were superior in comparison to the flax fiber composites. However, the results from the
split disk tensile test were competent, although they were only 25–29% of the properties of the E-glass fiber composites.
Water absorption and impact strength were notably the weakest properties of the flax fiber composites. The viscose
yarn could be wound into a composite tube but the composite was too brittle for machining specimens. In order to
develop the structural natural fiber composites, the adhesion and the wet-out of the fibers should be improved.

Keywords
natural fibre composites, filament winding, flax, viscose

Thermoset resins are excellent matrix resins for struc-

Introduction
Natural fiber composites have lately awakened interest.
They are inexpensive as a raw material, renewable, easy
to recycle, CO2-neutral, and abundantly available in
nature. In addition, their technical properties are
good; they have low density, high stiffness, moderate
specific strength, and they are non-abrasive for process
equipment.1 Young’s modulus of a single flax fiber can
be as high as 60–80 GPa, when Young’s modulus of an
E-glass fiber is approximately 70 GPa.2
Natural fibers are already widely exploited as con-
stituents in car interior parts for the automotive indus-
try. However, their good mechanical properties are not
fully exploited in these applications. The composites are
mainly short fibers which are usually randomly oriented
in a thermoplastic matrix, giving a component with
lower performance compared to oriented fibers.3,4
tural composites, with high demand regarding mechan-
ical strength and durability. Thermosets can also be
processed by many efficient techniques, such as
vacuum infusion, filament winding, and resin transfer
molding. The aim of this study is to investigate the
capability of natural fiber roving in the filament-wind-
ing process. Filament winding is a commercially
1
Department of Materials Science, Tampere University of Technology,
P.O. Box 589, FI-33101 Tampere, Finland.
2
Department of Materials Technology, Mikkeli University of Applied
Science, P.O. Box 181 FI-50101 Mikkeli, Finland.
Corresponding author:
Päivi Lehtiniemi, Department of Materials Science, Tampere University of
Technology, P.O. Box 589, FI-33101 Tampere, Finland
Email: paivi.lehtiniemi@tut.fi

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1948
important method to manufacture rotationally sym-
metric composite products, where the fiber layup
must be done with great accuracy. Filament winding
is commonly done with glass fibers and carbon fibers,
but there are few reports regarding the filament winding
of natural fiber roving. Goutianos et al.5 have investi-
gated that filament wound flax composites have high
mechanical properties. The processing method pro-
duces usually cylindrical and rotationally symmetrical,
apparently unidirectional composites, which have high
fiber content. The suitability of natural fibers for fila-
ment winding has not been investigated properly. Jute,6
cotton,7 and sisal8 have been used in filament winding,
but in this study, we have used flax and a regenerated
cellulose fiber, viscose. Natural fiber yarns still have
higher cost compared with glass fibers, but the devel-
opment will probably reduce the prices. The natural
fibers must meet the technical specifications and be pos-
sible to process. The aim of the presented study is to
demonstrate and study the behavior of the natural fiber
composites. Further, we want to determine if natural
fibers can be also used in technically more demanding
applications where a fiber has to carry some load. Thus,
natural fibers could replace glass fibers in some appli-
cations. The utilizing of the good mechanical properties
of aligned natural fibers in the composites has been
studied.3,4,9,10 Long or continuous fibers are required
for structural composites. Therefore, the development
of high-performance natural fiber composites depends
Table 1. The properties of single flax fibre reported by Safilin
Density Diameter of
(g/m3) fibre (mm) Elongation (%)
1.45 20 1.35
Figure 1. The close-ups of the flax (on the left) and viscose (on the right) yarns.
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Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 30(23)
on the availability and the decreasing of the prices of
spinnable natural fibers in comparison to E-glass
fibers.11
The objective of this work was to study the mechan-
ical properties of natural fiber yarn-reinforced compos-
ites and the applicability of the existing natural fiber
yarns for a filament-winding process, where we used a
bio-based epoxy resin as one of the resin constituents.
Materials and methods
Materials
A low-twist flax fiber yarn with the linear density of
1000 tex (g/1000 m) was obtained from Safilin
(France, Poland). The producer has reported some
properties of a single flax fiber in the yarn (Table 1).
A viscose fiber yarn CORDENKAÕ CR was provided
by Cordenka GmbH (Germany), and it had the linear
density of 250 tex and 1350 filaments in the yarn. The
yarn was twistless. The surfaces of both natural fiber
yarns were untreated. An image of the flax and viscose
yarns is presented in Figure 1. Standard E-glass roving
R338 with the linear density of 2400 tex was purchased
from Ahlstrom Glassfibre Oy. (Finland).
The diameters of flax and viscose fibrils were esti-
mated by measuring the diameters from micrographs.
Dry yarns were casted in epoxy and ground. Then the
cross sections of the yarns were viewed using an optical
Tensile Young’s Specific Young’s
strength (MPa) modulus (GPa) modulus (GPa/g/m3)
738 51.4 35.4
Lehtiniemi et al. 1949

microscope. The diameters of single fibers were mea- LS-81 K was 100:75. For Epopox AFLV and LS-81 K,
sured using an image-processing program and the aver- the ratio was 100:100. The yarn was guided on the man-
age of several values was determined. The average drel through a resin bath. The tension of roving is con-
diameter and standard deviation for the flax fibrils trolled by a pneumatic mechanism, where the pressure
was 18.9  5.5 mm and the maximum value was of a cylinder defines the tension in the roving. The same
35.2 mm. The average diameter and standard deviation pressure, 3 bar, was used for all windings. The average
for the viscose fibrils was 14.1  2.1 mm and the maxi- roving tension for 3 bar is approximately 13 N (alter-
mum value was 17.4 mm. nates on both sides of the average). The tension of
Two different epoxy resins were used as a matrix roving alternates when the winding head moves (espe-
material for the composites. Bio-based EpoBioXTM cially in helical winding). The fiber content of a lami-
liquid epoxy resin was obtained from Amroy Europe nate depends on the tension of the roving during
Oy. Standard epoxy resin Epopox AFLV, purchased winding. Loose roving gives lower fiber content than
from Amroy Europe Oy, was used as a reference it is attained when tighter roving is used. However, var-
material. ious parameters have an effect on the fiber and void
LS-81 K anhydride-based curing agent manufac- content of laminates.
tured by Lindau Chemicals Inc. was used for curing. Previously defined number of layers was wound
around the mandrel. The speed of the yarn during the
impregnation in hoop winding was 19 cm/s and the
Methods maximum speed of the yarn in helical winding was
Filament winding. Cylindrical composite tubes were 17 cm/s. A shrink film was wrapped around the
produced by filament winding on a filament-winding
machine of the Laboratory of Plastics and Elastomer
Technology, Tampere University of Technology. The
equipment has been built in-house and it consists of a
filament-winding machine, a fiber creel unit and a
drum-type impregnating unit. The impregnation unit
is presented in Figure 2. The impregnation unit is
between the fiber creel unit and the winding machine.
The drum collects liquid resin with large rolling drum
and a doctor blade is used for wiping the excessive resin
away. The drum was approximately 12 cm in diameter.
A roller above the drum is used for pressing a yarn and
for collecting the resin. The roller has a mass of 1.0 kg
and it lies on top of the drum freely. A layer of resin will
build up in front of the roller to promote the wet-out of
the yarn as presented in Figure 3. Guide rollers after the
rolling drum press the yarn to be opened and improve
the wet-out of the yarns. The machine has four axis of
movement which are: a rotating spindle axis, two lin- Figure 2. Drum-type impregnating unit in the used filament-
ear moving carriage axes, and a rotating axis for wind- winding machine. Fiber bundles pass through from right to left.
ing head.
The internal diameter of the wound tubes was 73 mm
and the length was 60 cm. Fiber orientation was (89 /
45 /89 ) for flax fiber and E-glass composites and
(89 /89 /45 /89 /89 ) for a viscose composite.
The viscose yarn was considerably thin although
double yarn (500 tex) was used. Therefore, the fiber
orientation was changed for the viscose fiber.
Thickness of the wound E-glass laminate was 3.2–
3.6 mm. For the flax laminate, the thickness was 3.5–
3.9 mm and for the viscose laminate only 1.7 mm.
The mandrel was a steel cylinder, with a diameter of
73 mm. Loctite Frekote 700-NC release agent were
spread on the mandrel, in order to ensure removal
of the tubes. Mixing ratio of the EpoBioX resin and Figure 3. The principle of a drum-type impregnation unit.

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1950
wound tube and heat was applied. Shrink tape was
used in order to decrease the porosity of natural fiber-
reinforced laminates and improve the wet-out of the
fibers. The use of shrink tape with low fiber content
and therefore low consolidated laminate can cause
fiber buckling. Especially in 90 layers, the pressure
can damage the fibers. However, we were not able to
observe any signs of buckling.
After that, the mandrel and the wound tube around
it were moved into an oven to cure. The flax/EpoBioX
tube was held in the oven at 80 C for 8 h before the
removal of the mandrel. The sample of the tube was
analyzed using Netzsch DSC 204 F1 differential scan-
ning calorimeter (DSC). The sample was heated from
room temperature to 300 C at 10 C/min twice. A resid-
ual exothermic peak was observed, so epoxy was not
completely cured. It was decided to elevate the curing
temperature to 130 C. After the removal of the man-
drel, the flax/EpoBioX tube was held in the oven at
130 C for 75 min to verify the cure. Samples of the
E-glass/EpoBioX tube were taken during the cure of
the tube after certain time periods. The tube was held
in the oven for 3 h. The samples were taken after 0, 15,
30, 60, 90, 120, and 180 min. The samples were analyzed
by DSC using the same test procedure as earlier. No
residual exothermic peaks or obvious changes in the
shape of the curves were observed after the first heating
Figure 4. The test fixture used in the split disk tensile test.
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Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 30(23)
hour. Other tubes were held in the oven at 130 C for
75 min.
Materials testing. Ring samples for a split disk ten-
sile test and for a water-absorption test were cut from
the tubes by a saw. The width of the split disk rings was
14 mm. Two reduced areas were cut to rings and they
were located 180 apart. The width of the reduced areas
was 10 mm. The radial apparent tensile strengths of the
composite tubes were defined according to the standard
(American Society for Testing and Materials) ASTM
D2290. The test specimens were loaded using a test
fixture as shown in Figure 4. The tensile test was per-
formed using the Instron 8801 universal tensile test
machine. Speed of the testing was 5 mm/min.
The width of the water-absorption rings was approx-
imately 25 mm. The sawed edges were brushed by the
resin, in order to prevent the absorption through the
edges. The resin was cured in an oven at 130 C for
75 min. The water absorption of the composites was
determined according to the standard EN ISO 62.
The specimens were immersed in distilled water at
room temperature for certain time periods. The
amount of water absorbed was determined by measur-
ing the change in mass of the specimens. Before the
immersion, the specimens were dried in an oven at
50 C for 24 h.
A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was utilized
for studying the cross sections of the natural fiber com-
posites. Fiber location, porosity, and adhesion were
examined. Samples were casted in a resin, polished
and carbonized. Philips XL-30 SEM was used for
studying the samples. The studied cross sections of
the composite samples were the split disk rings, bisected
from the spots of the reduced areas.
The impact strength-testing method was adapted
from the standard (Finnish Standards Association
SFS-European Standard) SFS-EN ISO 179-1. Test
pieces were cut from the tube in the longitudinal direc-
tion. The dimensions of the unnotched Charpy impact
Figure 5. The wound composite tubes. E-glass/Epopox AFLV
on the left, flax/Epopox AFLV in the middle, and viscose/EpoBioX
on the right.
Lehtiniemi et al.
strength specimens were approximately
80 mm  10 mm  4 mm. The CEAST Resil 5.5 J
impact strength machine and the 5 J uninstrumented
hammer were utilized.
Results
Filament winding
Both yarns stand well against the forces caused by the
filament-winding machine. The flax fiber yarn could be
wound into a composite tube without any considerable
problems. However, the fibers in flax composites seemed
slightly dry after the curing. The slight twist in yarn pos-
sibly prevents the adequate opening of the yarn on the
rollers of the impregnation unit or the adhesion between
the matrix and the fibers is not sufficient. Processing of
Figure 6. Example pictures of a flax/Epopox AFLV micrograph
and a separated black and white picture.
Figure 7. Apparent tensile strength of the composites determined by split disk tensile test.
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1951
viscose yarn was more challenging. The yarn could be
wound into a composite tube but the tube was too brittle
for machining the specimens. The adhesion between the
viscose fibers and the matrix was not sufficient without
any fiber treatments or adhesion promoters. The wound
tubes are shown in Figure 5.
The experimental fiber fraction for flax/epoxy com-
posites could not be determined reliably. An electronic
densimeter was used for determining the density of
composites, but the porosity and water absorption of
flax composites affected the results. Densimeter mea-
surements suggested that fiber fraction of flax compos-
ites was only 0.2–0.3. For E-glass/EpoBiox and E-glass/
Epopox AFLV laminates, the densimeter measure-
ments suggested fiber fractions of 0.55 and 0.53, respec-
tively. The fiber content of the flax fiber laminates was
estimated roughly by separating fiber and matrix/void
areas from the optical micrographs and by counting the
black and white pixels using an image-processing pro-
gram. Several micrographs were analyzed. An example
picture of a micrograph and separated areas is pre-
sented in Figure 6. The average fiber content Vf of
the flax/Epopox AFLV laminate using this method
was estimated to be 0.47. The range was from 0.37 to
0.55. For the flax/EpoBiox laminate, the average fiber
content Vf was 0.48. The range was from 0.42 to 0.54.
Split disk tensile test
The split disk tests were performed for two flax and two
E-glass composites. Five parallel specimens of each
material were loaded. The maximum load of each test
was divided by the combined cross-sectional area of the
1952
test rings. Thus, radial apparent tensile strengths sa
(MPa) of the specimens were determined. The arith-
metic means and the standard deviations for each mate-
rial were calculated. The results of the split disk tensile
test can be seen in Figure 7. The apparent tensile
strength of the flax fiber composites is approximately
25–29% of the strength of E-glass composites.
The EpoBioX composites have slightly lower strength
than the Epopox AFLV composites.
Heijenrath et al.12 manufactured unidirectional flax/
epoxy and E-glass/epoxy composites by a modified
Figure 8. Water-absorption test results of the composites.
Figure 9. Charpy impact strength results of composites.
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Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 30(23)
pultrusion process. The longitudinal tensile strength
of the flax/epoxy composites was 325 MPa, while the
tensile strength of the E-glass/epoxy composite was
900 MPa. Therefore, the strength of the flax fiber com-
posites was 36% of the strength of the E-glass compos-
ites. Thus, the ratio of the strength values was similar to
the values presented in literature.
The rule of mixtures can be used for predicting the
approximated theoretical strength values for the flax/
epoxy composites. The tensile strength of a single flax
fiber is 738 MPa (see Table 1) and an average strength
Lehtiniemi et al.
value for epoxy resins is approximately 40–70 MPa.
It can be estimated that approximately 70% of the
fibers in split disk rings are in the loading direction.
In all, 30% of the fibers are at an angle of 45 to the
loading direction. El-Sabbagh et al.13 quoted Kelly and
Tyson14 to introduce Kelly–Tyson model, which pre-
dicts the strength of composite using Equation (1):
c ¼ 0 l f Vf þ m ð1  Vf Þ
where Z0s and Zls are fiber orientation and length effi-
ciency factors. Orientation factor can be defined by the
Equation (2):
0 ¼ n an cos4 ’n
where an represents the fiber fraction at every specific
orientation and fn is the nth fiber-orientation
angle. Length efficiency factor Zls is not used for this
prediction. The orientation factor was calculated to
be 0.775.
The flax/epoxy composites reached about 153 MPa
(EpoBioX) and 192 MPa (conventional epoxy), where
290–306 MPa is estimated for the fiber fracture,
Vf ¼ 0.47, by the rule of mixtures. That means that
the fiber strength is not efficiently transferred into the
composite performance. A significant reason for that is
the interface between the matrix and the fibers.
Water absorption
The water-absorption tests were performed for the flax
and E-glass fiber composites. The specimens were
immersed in water and changes in the masses were mea-
sured after certain time periods. The results of the
water-absorption test can be seen in Figure 8. The
flax fiber composites absorb remarkably large amount
of water even in a few days. On the contrary, the E-
glass fiber composites do not absorb practically
Figure 10. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) micro-
graph of flax/Epopox AFLV composite sample.
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1953
anything within a month. Distinct differences in water
absorption between the resins cannot be seen. Flax
fibers are extremely hydrophilic. High absorption can
also be a consequence of dryness and poor adhesion in
the flax fiber composites.
Impact test
ð1Þ
The Charpy impact tests were performed for the flax
and E-glass fiber composites. The results of the test can
be seen in Figure 9. The E-glass composites have
remarkably higher impact strength than the flax fiber
composites. The results are comparable only among
ð2Þ
each other because of the nonstandard dimensions of
the specimens. Heijenrath et al.12 determined that the
Charpy impact strength of flax/epoxy composites man-
ufactured by pultrusion was 60 kJ/m2, whereas the
impact strength of E-glass composites was 280 kJ/m2.
The impact properties of the flax fiber composites are
poor in both cases. Low impact properties are the
known weaknesses of natural fiber composites.
Figure 11. The estimated black porous areas of the flax/
Epopox AFLV laminate from Figure 10.
Figure 12. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) micro-
graph of flax/EpoBioX composite sample.
1954
Scanning electron microscopy
A SEM micrograph of the flax fiber Epopox AFLV
composite sample is shown in Figure 10. The ends of
the flax fibers can be seen in the picture. Light charged
areas surrounding the dark holes can also be seen in the
picture. They are holes and weak interfaces between the
matrix and the fibers. The void content of the laminate
was estimated roughly by separating the dark porous
areas and the solid areas of the SEM micrographs and
by counting the black and white pixels using an image-
processing program. A picture where the areas of
Figure 10 are separated is presented in Figure 11.
The void content Vv of the flax/Epopox AFLV lami-
nate was estimated using this method to be 0.5–2.0%.
A SEM micrograph of the flax fiber EpoBioX com-
posite sample is shown in Figure 12. Different layers
can be seen in the figure. Fiber orientation in these
layers varies. At the top of the picture is the layer
where fibers have been wound in the angle of 89 .
In the middle and at the bottom of the picture can be
seen the angle of  45 layers. There are lots of charged
areas close to the interfaces of the different layers. The
void content of the laminate was estimated roughly in
Figure 13. The estimated black porous area of the flax/
EpoBioX laminate separated from Figure 12.
Table 2. The summary of the test results. Charpy impact strength (kJ/m2), Apparent Radial Tensile Strength(MPa), Axial Elastic
Modulus (GPa) and Absorption of water after 35 days (wt%) of the studied composites
Charpy Impact Apparent Radial
Strength (kJ/m2) Tensile Strength sa (MPa)
E-Glass/Epopox 42.44  3.9 668.55  48.1
E-Glass/EpoBioX 69.07  6.3 621.41  22.3
Flax/Epopox 4.78  0.8 191.62  7.2
Flax/EpoBioX 2.91  1.1 152.91  7.0
*Only one successful measurement.
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Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 30(23)
the same way as for a flax/Epopox AFLV laminate.
A picture where the areas of Figure 12 are separated
is presented in Figure 13. The void content Vv of the
flax/EpoBioX laminate was estimated using this
method to be 1.6–1.9%.
The results of the tests are summarized in the
Table 2. Axial elastic moduli come from a tensile test,
where test pieces were cut from the tubes in the longi-
tudinal direction. Thus, almost all the fibers are in the
transverse direction (except  45 layers). In conse-
quence of that, the test will mainly expose the quality
of the fiber–matrix adhesion in the specimens. The
dimensions of the specimens were approximately
100 mm  10 mm  4 mm. It can be noticed that the
elastic moduli of the flax fiber composites are low.
For the EpoBioX resin, the elastic modulus is
reported being 2–3.2 GPa. For standard epoxy resins,
the moduli are typically approximately 2.5–4 GPa.15
The moduli of flax fiber composites are even lower
than the moduli of pure epoxies. This verifies a sup-
posed poor adhesion in the flax fiber composites. If
the wet-out of the fibers inside the yarn is poor, the
structure will fracture immediately in transverse load-
ing. The yarns also have notable weaker properties in
transverse direction than in longitudinal direction.
Discussion
The flax fiber yarn could be wound to produce a rela-
tively stiff composite tube. Poor adhesion between the
fibers and the matrix was the main reason for the low
mechanical properties of the natural fiber composites.
The composites were also porous and dry, which will
induce the water absorption. Because of the water
absorption, the hydrophilic nature of natural fibers is
one of the greatest reasons for restricting the use of
natural fiber composites. However, the hydrophilic
nature of a natural fiber surface should promote the
adhesion between the fibers and a hydrophilic resin
material. The EpoBioX resin should have more hydro-
xyl groups than a conventional epoxy resin and,
Absorption of water
Axial Elastic Modulus after 35 days
(0.05–0.25 %) E (GPa) (change in mass) (wt%)
12.72  1.0 0.3
11.26  0.4 0.1
2.09  0.05 30.5
1.2* 28.7
Lehtiniemi et al.
therefore, have better adhesion to natural fibers.
However, this could not been verified.
The span in fiber content of the manufactured sam-
ples is 0.47 to 0.55. This is sufficiently small to enable
some direct comparisons of material properties. The
manufacturing quality of the samples is indicated to
be good with around 2% void content, highly cured
epoxy and no visible signs of fiber buckling. The prop-
erties of the E-glass fiber composites are superior in
comparison to the flax fiber composites. However, for
example, the results from the split disk tensile test are
promising, although they are only 25–29% of the prop-
erties of the E-glass fiber composites. For some appli-
cations, the properties may be sufficient. The use of
shrink tape and low fiber content during the processing
can cause fiber buckling and decrease the strength of
the composites. An additional possibility is that the bio
fibers have a significantly differrent Weibull fibril
strength distribution. It has been determined that the
stiffness of natural fiber composites is more comparable
to E-glass fiber composites than the tensile strength.12
However, the elastic modulus cannot be defined exactly
when using the split disk method. The properties of the
natural fiber composites could possibly be improved by
right selection of fibers and matrix materials, by mod-
ifying the fibers, or optimizing the wet-out for the nat-
ural fibers. It has been studied, that alkalization, for
example, is a simple and workable method to improve
the adhesion between flax fibers and an epoxy resin.16
The wet-out of the fibers could maybe be improved by
slowing down the speed of the yarn during the impreg-
nation or decreasing the yarn tension during the pro-
cess. The temperature of the resin could also be
increased to reduce the viscosity.
Funding
Financial support from MUOVEPRO project funded by
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) operational
program for Eastern Finland is gratefully acknowledged.
Acknowledgments
We wish also to thank the companies that provided the mate-
rials used in this study. We are also grateful to Mikko Salonen
(Tampere University of Technology) for his help with filament
winding, to Kai Hannonen (Miktech Oy) for help with sup-
plying the materials, and to Kauko Östman (Tampere
University of Technology) for help with split disk tensile test.
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