This is following increased customer demand due to European regulations covering sustainable materials, Cobra said.
According to the company, low density flax fibers can be less energy intensive to produce than carbon. They also provide improved impact resistance and vibration damping making them suitable for a wide variety of interior and exterior automotive.
Cobra now offers:
- A standard visual carbon twill outer ply with flax fiber backing plies, which maintains the classic carbon look of a twill weave carbon fabric but substitutes the backing plies (often two plies) for a woven flax prepreg material.
- A visual flax twill outer ply with flax fiber backing plies which maximises natural fiber content with 100% flax fiber reinforcement.
Cobra says that it can also colour the protective lacquer, epoxy resin system and even the flax fibers themselves, creating natural fiber components with a palette of potential colours and shades.
