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Basalt fibers, known as "green materials without pollution in the 21st century", have gained widespread attention due to its good mechanical properties. Basalt fiber‐based composites have applications in various fields such as construction, transportation, energy, and protection. However, as an inorganic fiber material, basalt fiber is hard and brittle and prone to catastrophic failure, reducing the safety of the material. Therefore, it is important to strengthen the toughness of basalt fiber‐based composites. This paper reviews the contributions made by researchers in recent years to enhance the toughness of basalt fiber reinforced composites. It mainly focuses on four aspects: physical and chemical modification of fibers surface, mixed application of multiple fibers, different textile and 3D printing technology, and design of biomimetic structures. Through these methods, the toughness of basalt fiber‐reinforced composite materials was increased by 10%–90%. In today's advocacy for green industrial development, the research and application of basalt fibers are very important for advancing the process of green development. These contributions can promote the application of basalt fiber in engineering fields. Highlights: Basalt fiber is a green material without pollution.Basalt fiber reinforced composites is the key material for engineering field.Strengthening interfacial adhesion can significantly improve the toughness of composites.Basalt fibers can serve as an alternative to glass fibers in composite materials.The hybridization of basalt fibers with soft fibers can effectively enhance the toughness of composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the course of many years of use, impingement wear from dust, sand, and other materials can damage wind turbine blades, necessitating repairs and other maintenance work. Recently, wind turbine operators are turning to protective films, which allow such work to be completed more efficiently, as an alternative to the conventional approach of using paint to repair wind turbine blades. However, the erosion resistance characteristics of repaired blades remain unclear. In this study, we create paint- and protective film-coated samples to reproduce repairs, measure their erosion resistance, and study underlying factors in an effort to verify the erosion resistance of repaired materials and associated mechanisms. The low erosion resistance of GFRP can be significantly improved by applying a protective film made of a ductile material. Such material effectively protects the surface of the GFRP. Moreover, the erosion resistance of protective films made from polyurethane material is superior to that of paint. We recommend use of protective film with wind turbine blades when manufacturing blades and regular maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With high specific strength, carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) is used in many fields. Repair is necessary when the strength of the leading edges of aircraft wings (CFRP) and wind power turbine blades (CFRP) are damaged by lightning strikes or collisions with birds. Some studies have been conducted on the mechanical properties of repair methods, but they do not address erosion characteristics. In order to develop a high quality repair method, this study examined the repair patch and fabricating samples that reproduces the conditions associated with the current repair method, the erosion characteristics of the sample were investigated using the erosion test. Differences in the adhesive used to affix the repair patch to the base plate have little effect on the erosion resistance of repaired areas, but deteriorations in adhesion between the repair patch and base plate result in degraded erosion resistance in the repaired area. With regard to the mechanism by which post-repair erosion resistance characteristics changed, our tests revealed that adhesive irregularities between the repair patch and base plate allowed impact energy from particle collisions to cause the repair patch to vibrate, and the resulting fatigue breakdown caused resin and fiber fragments to more readily separate, accelerating erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extrusion is employed to combine carbon fiber tows and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) blend. TPU‐cladded carbon fibers undergo knitting to form carbon fiber knitted composites. Microscopic observation proves that the compound carbon fibers are composed of a double‐layered structure with interfacial bonding and fiber axial alignment. In addition, the TPU coating can reduce friction during knitting, which provides the carbon fiber knitted composites with flexibility and resilience. Regarding the mechanical properties, the tensile strength is in direct proportion to the number of lamination layers. In particular, six‐layered knitted composites exhibit an optimal tensile strength of 43.72 MPa, whereas four‐layered knitted composites exhibit optimal tensile elongation. Through the manufacturing and evaluations in this study, continuous carbon fibers can be fabricated via extrusion, thereby obtaining a knitted structure that can be laminated to strengthen the mechanical properties and electromagnetic interference shielding efficacy of the laminated composites. Large composites can also be achieved, which overcomes the limits of continuous carbon fibers in subsequent production. © 2021 Society of Industrial Chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Windmill palm fiber is a kind of multicellular lignocellulose fiber material. Multiscale structure is an essential factor in mechanical properties and applications. The multiscale fibrils under sulfuric acid treatment had been prepared to improve the understanding of the macro-, micro-, and nanoscale structure of the windmill palm fiber. Scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, wide-angle X-ray scattering, and X-ray diffraction were used to analyze these samples' structure. Furthermore, the result showed that the elementary fibril diameter was 4–10 nm, whereas that of the microfibrils was 20–70 nm. The diameters of macrofibril and macrofibril bundles were 0.4–1.0 µm and 1.2–5.5 µm, respectively. The elementary fibril assembled into spiral microfibril with an angle of 46°. The crystallinity of nanofibril extracted from windmill palm fiber was about 62%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]