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Composite boards were fabricated using a heat press machine with flax fiber as the reinforcement material and polyactic acid fiber as the matrix. Mechanical properties of the material were tested, and the results indicated that the flax fiber volume fraction of 35% may be a better choice as far as the tensile and bending properties are concerned. Too low a flax volume fraction would reduce the reinforcing effect of the flax fiber. Too high a flax volume fraction may induce defective bonding between the fiber and the matrix. The orientation of the reinforcing fiber in the material played an important role in determining the mechanical behavior of the materials.

Analytical examination is made to ascertain the effect of the whip roll movement on warp tension fluctuation and beat-up strip width in weaving. The study reveals that the improved whip roll movements on Draper model X-3 looms enable the warp cyclic tension to be more even. The increase in the hardness of beat-up as a result of the modified whip roll motion reduces the width of the beat-up strip by 23%. Machine performance data and fabric property data are reported. The effectiveness of the modified whip roll motion is shown.

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