Abstract
Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is a blue-flowered herbaceous plant that widely grows in temperate zones as a source of both fibres and oil. While it is well known that flax fibres have been used for making linen, from a biomedical perspective, probably one of the more important applications of flax fibres is for making surgical sutures. In addition to employing flax fibres for polymer-coated sutures, more recently, flax fibres have been proposed for reinforcing polymer composites, such as hand layup laminated scaffolds in tissue engineering. This chapter explores the mechanics of flax fibres based on recent findings from studies conducted by the authors as well as from the literature. The focus is on the effects of moisture on the mechanical properties of yarn flax fibres as well as the possible dependence on knot geometry. The findings are applied to support arguments for the design considerations of polymer-treated flax fibre for, e.g., sutures as well as hand layup polymer composite laminates.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abdessalem SB, Debbab F, Jedda H (2009) Tensile and knot performance of polyester braided sutures. Text Res J 79:247
Alix S, Marais S, Morvan C, Lebrun L (2008) Biocomposite materials from flax plants: preparation and properties. Compos A Appl Sci Manuf 39:1793–1801
Andersons J, Sparnins E, Joffe R (2006) Stiffness and Strength of Flax Fiber/Polymer Matrix Composites, Polymer Composites, 27, pp 221–229
Avila AF, Morais DTS (2005) A multiscale investigation based on variance analysis for hand lay-up composite manufacturing. Compos Sci Technol 65:827–838
Bella GD, Fiore V, Valenza A (2010) Effect of a real weight and chemical treatment on the mechanical properties of bidirectional flax fabrics reinforced composites. Mater Des 31(9): 4098–4103
Bertomeu D, GarcÃa-Sanoguera D, Fenollar O, Boronat T, Balart R (2012) Use of eco-friendly epoxy resins from renewable resources as potential substitutes of petrochemical epoxy resins for ambient cured composites with flax reinforcements. Polym Compos 33(5):683–692
Biagiotti J, Puglia D, Torre L, Kenny JM (2004) A systematic investigation on the influence of the chemical treatment of natural fibers on the properties of their polymer matrix composites. Polym Compos 25:470–479
B Braun Sutures Linatrix Brochure (2014). http://www.bbraun.no/documents/Products/Linatrix_11.04.pdf. Retrieved 22 Aug 2014
Chaple AR, Khedakar SS, Dharmadhikari SR, Chaple NR (2013) Newly developed automatic lay-up process for manufacturing of FRP sheets. Int J Comput Eng Res (ijceronline.com) 3
Cherif ZE, Poilane C, Falher T, Vivet A, Ouail N, Doudou BB, Chen J (2013) Influence of textile treatment on mechanical and sorption properties of flax/epoxy composites. Polym Compos 34:1761–1773
Cheung HY, Ho MP, Lau KT, Cardona F, Hui D (2009) Natural fibre-reinforced composites for bioengineering and environmental engineering applications. Compos B Eng 40:655–663
Dhakal HN, Zhang ZY, Bennett N, Lopez-Arraiza A, Vallejo FJ (2013) Effects of water immersion ageing on the mechanical properties of flax and jute fibre biocomposites evaluated by nanoindentation and flexural testing. J Compos Mater 48:1399–1406
Dipa R, Rout J (2005) Thermoset biocomposites. In: Natural fibers biopolymers and biocomposites
European Confederation of Flax and Hemp (2012) In: Reux F (ed) Flax and hemp fibres: a natural solution for the composite industry. JEC Composites
Gibson LJ (2012) The hierarchical structure and mechanics of plant materials. J R Soc Interface. doi:10.1098/rsif.2012.0341
Goh KL, Aspden RM, Mathias KJ, Hukins DWL (2004a) Finite-element analysis of the effect of material properties and fibre shape on stresses in an elastic fibre embedded in an elastic matrix in a fibre-composite material. Proc R Soc Lond Math Phys Eng Sci 460:2339
Goh KL, Aspden RM, Hukins DWL (2004b) Review: finite element analysis of stress transfer in short-fibre composite materials. Compos Sci Technol 64:1091
Goh KL, Meakin JR, Hukins DWL (2010) Influence of fibre taper on the interfacial shear stress in fibre-reinforced composite materials during elastic stress transfer. Compos Interface 17:75
Goutianos S, Peijs T, Nystrom B, Skrifvars M (2006) Development of flax fibre based textile reinforcements for composite applications. Appl Compos Mater 13(4):199–215
Goutianos S, Peijs T, Nystrom B, Skrifvars M (2007) Textile reinforcements based on aligned flax fibres for structural composites. http://www.risoe.dk
Greenberg JA, Clark RM (2009) ‘Advances in Suture Material for Obstetric and Gynecologic Surgery’, Reviews in Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2, pp146–158
Hagstrand PO, Oksman K (2001) Mechanical properties and morphology of flax fiber reinforced melamine–formaldehyde composites. Polym Compos 22(4):568–578
Hassan A, Salema AA, Ani FN, Abu Bakar A (2010) A Review on Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite Materials, Polymer Composites, 31,2079–2101
Hatamleh MM, Watts DC (2010) Mechanical properties and bonding of maxillofacial silicone elastomers. Dent Mater 26:185–191. http://www.fibre-reinforced-plastic.com. http://www.netcomposites.com
Ku H, Wang H, Pattarachaiyakoop N, Trada M (2011) A review on the tensile properties of natural fiber reinforced polymer composites. Compos B Eng 42:856–873
Kunert-Keil C, Gredes T, Meyer A, Wróbel-Kwiatkowska M, Dominiak M, Gedrange T (2012) The survival and proliferation of fibroblasts on biocomposites containing genetically modified flax fibers: an in vitro study. Ann Anat 194:513–517
Lim BH, Ooi LH, Chou SM, Goh KL (2011) Biomechanical properties of extensor tendon repair using the six-strand single-loop suture technique: a comparative analysis with three other techniques in cadaveric models. J Mech Med Biol 11:845–855
Moothoo J, Allaoui S, Ouagne P, Soulat D (2014) A study of the tensile behaviour of flax tows and their potential for composite processing. Mater Des 55:764–772
Muralidhar BA (2013a) Study of flax hybrid preforms reinforced epoxy composites. Mater Des 52:835–840
Muralidhar BA (2013b) Tensile and compressive properties of flax-plain weave preform reinforced epoxy composites. J Reinf Plast Compos 32:207–213
Muralidhar BA, Giridev VR, Raghunathan K (2012) Flexural and impact properties of flax woven, knitted and sequentially stacked knitted/woven preform reinforced epoxy composites. J Reinf Plast Compos 31:379–388
Olivito RS, Cevallos OA, Carrozzini A (2014) Development of durable cementitious composites using sisal and flax fabrics for reinforcement of masonry structures. Mater Des 57:258–268
Pieranski P, Kasas S, Dietler G, Dubochet J, Stasiak A (2001) Localization of breakage points in knotted strings. New J Phys 3:10.1–10.13
Ramnath BV, Elanchezhian C, Nirmal PV, Kumar GP, Kumar VS, Karthick S, Rajesh S, Suresh K (2014) Experimental investigation of mechanical behavior of Jute–Flax based glass fiber reinforced composite. Fibers Polym 15(6):1251–1262
Rao S, Bhardwaj A, Beehag A, Bhattacharyya D (2012) Performance of flax laminates and their hybrids. Adv Mater Res 410:114–117. Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland
Ray SS, Bousmina M (2005) Biodegradable polymers and their layered silicate nanocomposites: in greening the 21st century materials world, Progress in Materials Science, 50, 962–1079
Santulli C (2009) Falling weight impact damage characterisation on flax/epoxy laminates. Int J Mater Prod Technol 36. Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Santulli C, Janssen M, Jeronimidis G (2005) Partial replacement of E-glass fibers with flax fibers in composites and effect on falling weight impact performance. J Mater Sci 40(13):3581–3585
Shalwan A, Yousif BF (2013) In state of art: mechanical and tribological behaviour of polymeric composites based on natural fibres. Mater Des 48:14–24
Singleton ACN, Baillie CA, Beaumont PWR, Peijs T (2003) On the mechanical properties, deformation and fracture of a natural fibre/recycled polymer composite. Compos B Eng 34:519–526
Soutis C (2005) Fibre reinforced composites in aircraft construction. Prog Aerosp Sci 41(2):143–151
Soutis C (2009) Recent advances in building with composites. Plast Rubber Compos 38:359–366. http://www.materials.uoi
Srinivasan VS, Boopathy SR, Sangeetha D, Ramnath BV (2014a) Evaluation of mechanical and thermal properties of banana–flax based natural fibre composite. Mater Des 60:620–627
Srinivasan VS, Boopathy SR, Ramnath BV (2014) Investigation on shear behaviour of flax-kenaf hybrid composite. Adv Mater Res 1051:139–142. Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland. http://www.scientific.net
Tahir PM, Ahmed AB, SaifulAzry SOA, Ahmed Z (2009) Retting process of some bast plant fibres and its effect on fibre quality: a review. BioResources 6:5260–5281
Yan L, Chouw N (2013) A comparative study of steel reinforced concrete and flax fibre reinforced polymer tube confined coconut fibre reinforced concrete beams. J Reinf Plast Compos 32(16):1155–1164
Yan L, Yuan X, Nguyen C, Chouw N (2012) Compressive behaviour of flax FRP tube confined coir-fibre reinforced concrete. In: Barros J et al (eds) BEFIB2012 – fibre reinforced concrete. www.researchgate.net
Yan L, Chouw N, Jayaraman K (2014a) Effect of column parameters on flax FRP confined coir fibre reinforced concrete. Construct Build Mater 55:299–312
Yan L, Chouw N, Jayaraman K (2014b) Effect of triggering and polyurethane foam-filler on axial crushing of natural flax/epoxy composite tubes. Mater Des 56:528–541
Yuhazri M, Phongsakorn PT, Sihombing H (2010) A comparison process between vacuum infusion and hand lay-up method toward kenaf/polyester composites. Int J Basic Appl Sci (IJBAS-IJENS) 10(3):63–66
Zhu J, Zhu H, Njuguna J, Abhyankar H (2013) Recent development of flax fibre and their reinforced composites based on different polymeric. Materials 6:6171–6198
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fong, T.C., Saba, N., Liew, C.K., De Silva, R., Hoque, M.E., Goh, K.L. (2015). Yarn Flax Fibres for Polymer-Coated Sutures and Hand Layup Polymer Composite Laminates. In: Salit, M., Jawaid, M., Yusoff, N., Hoque, M. (eds) Manufacturing of Natural Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07944-8_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07944-8_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-07943-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-07944-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)