The production of hybrid layered composites allows comprehensive modification of their properties and adaptation to the final expectations. Different methods, such as hand lay-up, vacuum bagging, and resin infusion were applied to manufacture the hybrid composites. In turn, fabrics used for manufacturing composites were made of glass (G), aramid (A), carbon (C), basalt (B), and flax (F) fibers. Flexural, puncture impact behavior, and cone calorimetry tests were applied to establish the effect of the manufacturing method and the fabrics layout on the mechanical and fire behavior of epoxy-based laminates. The lowest flammability and smoke emission were noted for composites made by vacuum bagging (approximately 40% lower values of total smoke release compared with composites made by the hand lay-up method). It was demonstrated that multi-layer hybrid composites made by vacuum bagging might enhance the fire safety levels and simultaneously maintain high mechanical properties designed for, e.g., the railway and automotive industries.

The aim of this work was to determine the influence of used soybean oil (SO)-based polyol on the thermal properties of tested polyurethane elastomers (PUEs), with a different value of isocyanate index (I_NCO). The thermal properties determined by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry show that the highest I_NCO causes an increase in hydrogen bonds in PUEs and higher thermal stability. A structural analysis and degree of phase separation (DPS) of the tested PUEs were carried out via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. This analysis showed that at I_NCO = 1.02, the largest number of urethane bonds arises in PUE. The physicomechanical properties of PUEs were also tested via density, resilience, hardness, and wear resistance. The results concluded that the increasing number of –NCO groups during production of PUEs with SO polyol changes the number of hydrogen bonds and DPS and causes the increase of properties such as thermal resistance, storage modulus, cross-linking density, and wear resistance.