Bio-composites for cars
Bio-composites have become increasingly popular with car manufacturers because they can reduce vehicle weight, which improves performance and lowers CO2 emissions. They are used in car interiors for components like door and floor panels, but they also have more structural applications. In 1941 Henry Ford unveiled a prototype, plastic-bodied “Soybean Car” that weighed around a third less than an equivalent steel-bodied vehicle. Its body panels were said to be made from a soy-based bioplastic reinforced with natural fibres. Today no one is quite sure of the exact make-up of this bio-composite, but it is thought to have contained – among many other ingredients – soybeans, wheat, hemp, flax and ramie. The founder of the Ford Motor Company thought that the plastic panels were safer than steel and hoped that this new material might replace the metals used in cars. But World War II put an end to his plans. When America entered the war, at the end of 1941, all automobile production was suspended. Unfortunately, this resulted in the Soybean Car project being abandoned, and apparently the prototype was later destroyed by Ford Designer Lowell E. Overly. More recently, the American car manufacturer used kenaf fibres in the door trim of the first generation Mondeo, which rolled off the production lines in 1993. And now, the door trim in all Ford cars is made from a mix of at least 50 per cent natural fibres and plastic. The company is keen to use sustainable, environmentally friendly matter, but weight is a key part of that, says Maira Magnani, an engineer at the vehicle manufacturer's Research and Innovation Center in Aachen, Germany. She explains that any bio-based car parts won’t be considered unless they weigh the same as or are lighter than what they are replacing. “For cars 80 per cent of the environmental footprint is created in the use phase and that links us immediately to weight.” Magnani says that current Ford cars contain on average 9–18 kilogrammes of bio-based or renewable materials. Most of them are fibre-reinforced plastics, but there are other applications. For example, the fuel lines in most models are made from a castor oil-based plastic. Car interiors are where most car manufacturers use bio-composites, according to Mike Clowry, vice president Advanced development & engineering at the International Automotive Components Group (IAC). “We have produced map boxes, trunk trim, rear seat liners and door components employing natural fibre composites,” Clowry says. “In 2017 IAC launched “the first natural fibre composite sun roof frame”, which is made from 70 per cent hemp and kenaf fibre and weighs 50% less than a metal sunroof frame. It is now used on all Mercedes-Benz E-Class and A-Class cars. Hom Dhakal, a researcher in Composite materials at the University of Portsmouth in the UK, believes that the next step is semi-structural applications, “such as front and rear bumpers made from flax fibre composites”. He says that his team are close to producing a flax fibre material that will meet the mechanical requirements that most vehicle manufacturers specify for engine covers. There are things that they could do right now, like adding glass fibres to the mix, to reach those standards, but they would reduce the materials sustainability and make it harder to recycle, he explains. Read more: http://www.allthings.bio/bio-composites-for-cars/
Keywords
bio-based materials, cars, automotive, sustainability, energy, manifacturing
Countries
Germany, India, United Kingdom, United States