The European automotive industry is more and more interested in materials that offer environmental advantages; this is due on the one hand to the increasing consumer interest toward environmental protection and on the other hand to strict EU legislation on energy efficiency and products end of life disposal. In this context materials derived from agricultural resources are remarkably valuable since they are obtained from renewable resources and, being lightweight, offer fuel saving and reduction in CO2 emissions. Thermoplastic biopolymers such as PLA or MaterBi can be derived from vegetal carbohydrates. Properties of biopolymers are similar to those of commodity resins; to improve their performance they can be compounded with vegetable fibers. Biocomposites are pelletized and injection molded or produced in form of mats suitable for compression molding. Possible applications in automotive field are investigated through the production of car part prototypes. In order to evaluate the actual applicability of developed biocomposites they were processed into automotive demonstration parts. The component selected as demonstrator part for injection molding is a car interior cover panel. Several composites of both MaterBi and PLA were molded without troubles using drying and processing conditions similar to those previously specified. These parts were manufactured using a standard injection molding machine of 330 ton clamping force. The compression molded demonstrative part is a fan blade for truck engine. It has been molded in two step: first wet fleeces of dimensions 270x 154x3 mm were pressed in order to obtain preconsolidate sheets, four of those sheets were then compression molded into the demo part. Several composites combinations have been tested, always with good molding results.
New functional biopolymer natural fieber composites from agricultural resources
Neue funktionale Biopolymer-Naturfaser Verbundwerkstoffe aus landwirtschaftlichen Rohstoffen
2002
6 Seiten, 6 Bilder, 5 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
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