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Earlier in June, The Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp announced technological advancements demonstrating how flax-linen and hemp fibers are now being successfully integrated into advanced composite manufacturing processes. These developments mark a transition beyond traditional hand lay-up techniques, positioning natural fibers as credible, scalable solutions for high-performance industrial applications.
European flax-linen and hemp bio-composites are rapidly evolving, with cutting-edge manufacturing technologies unlocking new levels of performance, precision and repeatability. As a result, flax-linen and hemp are emerging as serious contenders across demanding sectors including automotive, construction, design and advanced engineering.
Recent progress in thin-ply prepreg technology has enabled flax rovings, such as those developed by Depestele, to be transformed into ultra-lightweight, high-performance composite structures. Leveraging the ‘thin ply effect,’ these materials demonstrate enhanced damage tolerance, while automated prepreg systems and back-injection moulding are facilitating efficient, high-volume production, particularly within the automotive sector.
At the forefront of innovation, coreless filament winding is redefining the possibilities of natural fiber composites. This advanced robotic process enables resin-impregnated flax fibers to be precisely wound into complex three-dimensional geometries without the need for traditional molds, significantly reducing material waste while enabling structurally optimised designs.
The FIBRAS project at Eindhoven University of Technology is exploiting these techniques and developing specialized handling methodologies for flax rovings that address the inherent variability of natural fibers in highly controlled manufacturing environments, to create lightweight, resource-efficient and more sustainable architectural structures for the construction industry.
The DynaMill project, led by ContiTech AVS France (a subsidiary of OESL-Automotive), Nautix and ComposiTIC (a technical center attached to the University of Southern Brittany), co-funded by the Brittany region and supported by ID4Mobility and EMC2 clusters, has successfully developed and mechanically validated a lightweight automotive engine support connecting rod manufactured using injection moulding and automated fibre placement with flax fibre reinforcements and bio-based PA11 matrix. Filament winding has been also investigated with promising results.
Building on earlier lightweighting work under the Dynafib programme, the project highlights the growing potential for high-performance, bio-based composite structures that combine renewable materials, reduced weight and scalable manufacturing technologies for future automotive applications.
In parallel, the University of Stuttgart’s ICD/ITKE continues to pioneer novel applications for natural fibers. Supported by Safilin, researchers have developed the “Con[knit]uous Rubble” process, which uses continuous circular knitting to encase unprocessed demolition waste in seamless flax fiber structures.
This innovative method allows for the construction of self-supporting architectural forms such as arches and columns without binders or mortars, while enabling full disassembly and material reuse. Future developments aim to integrate bio-based resins to further enhance durability and performance.