Enhanced Fracture Energy and Toughness of UV-Curable Resin Using Flax Fiber Composite Laminates

Ultraviolet (UV) curable resins are widely used in photopolymerization-based 3D printing due to their rapid curing and compatibility with high-resolution processes. However, their brittleness and limited mechanical performance restrict their applicability, particularly in impact-resistant high-performance 3D-printed structures. Inspired by the mantis shrimp’s exceptional energy absorption and impact resistance, attributed to its helicoidal fiber architecture, we developed a Bouligand flax fiber-reinforced composite laminate. By constructing biomimetic helicoidal composites based on Bouligand arrangements, the mechanical performance of flax fiber-reinforced UV-curable resin was systematically investigated. The influence of flax fiber orientation was assessed using mechanical testing combined with the digital image correlation (DIC) method. The results demonstrate that a 45° interlayer angle of flax fiber significantly enhanced the fracture energy of the resin from 1.67 KJ/m2 to 15.41 KJ/m2, an increase of ~823%. Moreover, the flax fiber-reinforced helicoidal structure markedly improved the ultimate tensile strength of the resin, with the 90° interlayer angle of flax fiber exhibiting the greatest enhancement, increasing from 5.32 MPa to 19.45 MPa.