How to make auxetic fibre reinforced composites

Auxetic composite materials can be produced either from conventional components via specially designed configurations or from auxetic components. This paper reviews manufacturing methods for both these scenarios. It then looks at the possibility of property enhancements in both low velocity impact and fibre pull out due to the negative Poisson's ratio. Tests revealed that auxetic carbon fibre composites made from commercially available prepreg show evidence of increased resistance to low velocity impact and static indentation with a smaller area of damage. Also, using auxetic fibres in composite materials is shown to produce a higher resistance to fibre pullout. (c) 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH A Co. KGaA, Weinheim.