Development of Tailored Fiber Placement Textile Structures for Drone Frame
Abstract
In recent years, the growing demand for lightweight and high-strength materials in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across various sectors has driven the need for innovative drone frames that balance performance, weight, waste minimization, and sustainability. Composite materials, known for their excellent strength-to-weight ratios, have emerged as the material of choice for UAV frames. Nowadays, drone frames made from inorganic fiber-reinforced composites, particularly glass and carbon fibers, dominate the market due to their exceptional strength-to-weight ratios and durability. However, these materials pose environmental challenges, as many drones, especially in military applications, are designed for single-use operations, generating non-biodegradable waste. To address this, sustainable alternatives like flax fiber-reinforced composites have gained interest due to their low environmental impact, renewability, and biodegradability. However, ensuring mechanical performance comparable to inorganic fibers remains a challenge. This work explores Tailored Fiber Placement (TFP), which employs a technical embroidery machine for precise fiber placement along load paths, optimizing material distribution and maximizing performance. Integrating natural fibers with TFP reduces waste and enables lightweight, high-performance, environmentally friendly drone frames. In this work, bio-based epoxy resin was also used as a matrix in drone frame production using resin-infusion technology. The mechanical properties of the flax fiber-reinforced composite showed that combining TFP and flax fibers for drone frame preparation has a promising effect both in mitigating the environmental impact of drone technology and reducing costs.
KEYWORDS: Composite; Drone; Embroidery; Flax; Sustainability; Tailored Fiber Placement.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
