Abstract—In this study, an investigation on mechanical properties of flax natural fiber composite is performed as a precedent study on the design of eco-friendly structure using flax natural fiber composite. The Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding-Light (VARTML) manufacturing method is adopted for manufacturing the flax fiber composite panel. The VARTML is a manufacturing process that the resin is injected into the dry layered –up fibers enclosed by a rigid mold tool under vacuum. In this work, the resin flow analysis of VARTM manufacturing method is performed. A series of flax composite panels are manufactured, and several kinds of specimens cut out from the panels are tested to obtain mechanical performance data. Based on this, structural design of chemical storage tank for agricultural vehicle was performed using flax/vinyl ester. After structural design and analysis, the resin flow analysis of VARTM manufacturing method was performed.
Index Terms—Mechanical properties, natural composite, resin flow analysis, structural design.
Hyunbum Park is with the Department of Defense & Science Technology-Aeronautics, Howon University, Republic of Korea (e-mail: swordship@ daum.net).
Changduk Kong and Haesung Lee are with the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Chosun University (e-mail: cdgong@chosun.ac.kr, imorger@nate.com).
Jounghwan Lee is with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing, The University of Sheffield (e-mail: jhlee@kseauk.org).
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Cite: Changduk Kong, Hyunbum Park, Haseung Lee, and Jounghwan Lee, "Design of Natural Fiber Composites Chemical Container Using Resin Flow Simulation of VARTML Process," International Journal of Materials, Mechanics and Manufacturing vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 256-260, 2014.
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