Essay

DOI: 10.1002/mame.200600113

449

Cars from Bio-Fibres

Introduction
Bio-bres are fashionable and not just in the wardrobe: it is a long time now since compostable automotive components and computer casings were utopian pipe dreams. Jute, hemp, ax and other bio bres that once fell into neglect are enjoying a comeback in the high-tech development. Above all, the automotive industry is interested in the new biomaterials, because cars should be partially decomposable or recyclable by 2006. Furthermore, light-brous materials are also replacing conventional glass-brereinforced plastics in other sectors from construction to the computer industry thereby beneting the environment.[1] Lightweight, strong, and low-cost, bio-bres are poised to replace glass and mineral llers in numerous interior parts. For centuries they have been made into baskets, clothing, sacks, ropes, and rugs. They have even been smoked. Now plant-derived bio-bres; jute, kenaf, hemp, ax, banana, sisal and also wood bre are making their way into the components of cars. The eld of bio-bre research has experienced an explosion of interest, particularly with regard to its comparable properties to glass bres within composites materials. The main area of increasing usage of these composites materials is the automotive industry, predominantly in interior applications, because the need is the greatest here.[2] The growth for bio-bres in automotive components is expected to increase by 54% per year.[3] In the last decade, bio-bre reinforced polymer composites have been embraced by European car makers for door panels, seat backs, headliners, package trays, dashboards, and trunk liners. Now the trend has reached North America. Bio-bre composites gain widespread acceptance in the USA automotive industry. Nowadays, in the USA more than 1.5 million vehicles are the substrate of choice for biobres such as kenaf, jute, ax, hemp and sisal and thermoplastic polymers such as poly(propylene) and polyester.[4] Bio-bres have beneted from the perception that they are green or eco-friendly. What is proving even more important is their ability to provide stiffness enhancement and sound damping at lower cost and density than glass bres and mineral llers. The automotive industries throughout the world are continuously optimizing cost versus quality in order to remain competitive in the market. Moreover, increased importance of renewable resources for raw materials and recyclability or biodegradability of the product at the end of its useful life is demanding a shift from petroleum-based synthetics to agro based bio-bres in automotive applications. Due to modernization of the transport system and economic developments in the last century, the number of automobiles produced in the USA, Europe, and Asia reached 69 million in the year 2004. It is a fact that automotive textiles are growing markets in terms of quantity, quality and product variety.[57] On average each automobile utilizes ca. 20 m2 of bres or fabrics, woven or non-woven based composites. This is an increasing trend due to the advantages of lightweight, high strength and day by day lowering costs of textile products. As many as 40 automotive components such as trunk and hood liners, oor mats, carpets and padding, speakers, package trays, door panels, and oil and air lters contain fabrics made of synthetic bres.[810] Furthermore, these bre-based composites can contribute greatly to the automotive manufacturers nal goal by constituting a 30% weight reduction and a cost reduction by 20%.[11] Increased social awareness of environmental problems posed by the non-degradable, non-recyclable contents of salvaged automobiles is forcing automotive manufacturers to enhance the biodegradable content which is in favour of switching to bio-bres. If biodegradable bres are chosen to substitute many of the existing composites, the nished products do not pose any difculty in disposing.[12,13] To accelerate this process of switching to recyclable and biodegradable constituents, the legislations in the USA & Europe have issued a specic directive on end-of-life vehicles[14] that promotes the use of environmentally safe products and reduces the landlls. The directive, which came into effect at the turn of this century, predetermines the deposition fraction of a vehicle to 15% for the year 2005, and then gradually reduces it to 5% for the year 2015.[14] The European and North American market for bio-bres reinforced plastic composites reached 685 000 t, valued at 775 million $US in 2002.[15] Wood-polymer composites accounted for 590 000 t while the remaining amount represents the other bio-bre composites. Germany occupies a totally dominant market position in terms of product innovation, research, and commercially available products. Two-thirds of all bio-bres consumed in the automotive industry within Europe take place in Germany. In Germany, car manufacturers are aiming to make every component of their vehicles either recyclable or biodegradable.[16] Indeed, the use of bio-bres has risen dramatically in recent years. The German automotive industry has increased its usage, from 4 000 t in 1996 to 18 000 t in 2003.

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Figure 1. Total consumption of bio-bres within Western Europe; 2005 and 2010 are predictions.[17]

For Europe, it amounts accordingly to almost 70 000 t of these new natural bre materials. Projections for 2005 and 2010 suggest that the total application of bio-bres in the European automotive sector could rise to values between 50 000 and 70 000 t in 2005 and to more than 100 000 t by 2010 as shown in Figure 1. On the other side, European consumers are concerned about environmental issues. As a result, the environmental driving force stems partly from European regulations. The effect is two-fold. Bio-bre composites in the automotive industry both reduce material waste and increase fuel efciency. A major question for the automotive industry is what to do with the glass bres of a glass bre-plastic composite after its life cycle. This leads to a clear advantage for using bio-bre composites, which can be recycled. The second environmental benet is to reduce fuel emissions. Europe is committed to follow the Kyoto protocol. By 2005 there is a commitment to reduce fuel consumption in Europe by 50%.[18] If lighter materials are used in the automotive industry, fuel efciencies rise, making it easier to meet this goal. In the current situation, it is estimated that no more than 50 kg of natural bres can be used in a car. This corresponds to a reduction of about 10 kg if glass bre composites are replaced with bio-bre composites in an automobile. If the weight of a car can be reduced by 10 to 20 kg, the effect on the environment will be signicant.

during the last few years. The principal bres now being used for this purpose belong to ax and hemp, grown in the temperate climates of Western Europe, and the sub-tropical bres, jute and kenaf, mainly imported from Bangladesh and India, banana bre from the Philippines, sisal from the USA (Florida), South Africa and Brazil and wood bre from all over the world. Table 1 shows the commercially important bre sources of agricultural bio-bres that could be utilized for composites.[17] The data for this table was extracted from several sources using estimates and extrapolations for some of the numbers. For this reason, the data should only be considered to be a rough relative estimate of world bre resources. The traditional source of agro-based composites has been wood and for many countries, this will continue to be the major source.
Table 1. Fibre Commercially important bre sources. Species World production 10 t Wood Bamboo Cotton lint Jute Kenaf Flax Sisal Hemp Coir Ramie Abaca >10 000 species >1 250 species Gossypium sp Corchorus sp Hibiscus cannadbinus Linum usitatissimum Agave sisilana Cannabis sativa Cocos nucifera Boehmeria nivea Musa textiles 1 750 000 10 000 18 450 2 300 970 830 378 214 100 100 70 Stem Stem Fruit Stem Stem Stem Leaf Stem Fruit Stem Leaf
3

Origin

Fibre Resources
The use of bio-bre composites for automotive components is a phenomenon that has appeared and developed only
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Table 2. Property

Properties of glass and natural bres.[20] Fibre E-glass

3

ax

hemp

jute

ramie

coir

sisal

abaca

cotton 1.51 400 12 8 310 825 1.52.2

Density/(g/cm ) 2.55 1.4 1.48 1.46 1.5 1.25 1.33 1.5 Tensile strengtha)/ 2 400 8001 500 550900 400800 500 220 600700 980 (106 N/m2) E-modulus/GPa 73 6080 70 1030 44 6 38 Specic/ 29 2646 47 721 29 5 29 (E/density) Elongation at 3 1.21.6 1.6 1.8 2 1525 23 failure/% Moisture absorption/% 7 8 12 1217 10 11 price/($US/kg); 1.3 (1.7/3.8) 1.5 (2/4) 0.61.8 (2/4) 0.35 (1.5/0.92) 1.52.5 0.250.5 0.60.7 1.52.5 raw (mat/fabric)
a)

Tensile strength strongly depends on type of bre, being a bundle or a single lament.

Fibre Properties
The bio-bre world is full of examples where cells or groups of cells are designed for strength and stiffness. A sparing use of resources has resulted in optimization of the cell functions. Cellulose is a natural polymer with high strength and stiffness per weight, and it is the building material of long brous cells. These cells can be found in the stem, the leaves or the seeds of plants. In general, the bre consists of a wood core surrounded by a stem. Within the stem there are a number of bre bundles which contain individual bre cells or laments. The laments are made of cellulose and hemicellulose, bonded together by a matrix which can be lignin or pectin. The pectin surrounds the bundle thus holding them on to the stem.
Table 3. Natural bres in automotive industry.[22],[23] Natural bre Type Wood/cellulose bre (partly synthetic bre) Wood bre (partly synthetic bre) Flax, Jute, Sisal, Hemp, Kenaf bres Flax, Jute, Sisal, Hemp, Kenaf bres Coir bre Flax, Hemp, Kenaf Wood bre (wood our) Sisal bre, Carden band Sisal mat Flax, Hemp, Kenaf bres % 8590 7080 5065 4050 50 4555 2535 2040 2040 2040 Type

The principal differences between the individual bres are: Fibre qualities: Use of inferior grades (cuttings and recovered or pulled bre) has diminished the recent reputation of jute in automotive circles. However, the ideal raw material is designated as Tossa Grade D, which has undergone an intermediate carding process in Bangladesh to eliminate waste and dirt, and to produce sliver. This can also be guillotine or rotary cut to a consistent staple length (90 mm for optimum blending) and re-compressed into bales for economical container shipment.[19] Lignin content: Jute has signicantly higher lignin content than ax or hemp. Although there is a lack of authoritative research on the subject, this may be a factor

Polymer % 5 1015 3550 5060 50 4555 6575 6075 6080

Process

Thermoset; such as Acrylate or Melamine resin Thermoset; such as Acrylate or Phenol resin Thermoset; such as Epoxy resin Polyurethane Thermoset; such as Phenol or polyester resin Latex Thermoplast; PP (Co-PES) synthetic bre, natural resin, cellulose acetate, lactate Thermoplast, PP or Co-PES Thermosets Polyurethane (2K) resin Thermoplast, PP or Co-PES, natural resin, cellulose acetate, Poly(lactic acid)
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Casting, Hot press Fibre mat with resin, Hot press Fibre mat, Gluing, Hot press, Fibre mat, Gluing, Hot press, Extrudate Glued prole Hot press Fibre mat, heating, cold pressing Extrudate prole, heating, cold pressing Long-Fibre-Injection-Moulding Long-Fibre-Injection-Moulding or mat foaming Granules, Injection moulding, Extrusion

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Table 4. Material

Natural bre composites in different automotive series (DP: door panel, IP: instrumental panel. Fibres Wood bre Needle feed wood bre mat Resin Acryl resin dispersion Acryl resin dispersion Preferred body parts IP, DP, air channel IP and DP, Seat adjustment In production IP: Opel Astra, Zara, Volvo V40 DP: Opel Astra, Zara IP: DC A-Class, New Compact Car Mitsubishi Colt, Smart 44 DP: New Compact Car Mitsubishi Colt, Opel Astra, DC DP, C219 DP: DC S/E-class DP: BMW 5 series Inserts: Renault Clio Seat adjustment: Opel Zara DP: DC W 251 DP: Fiat Punto, Bravo, Alfa 147, 155 DC: Diverse series

Fibrit HFFS Fibrowood

Fibropur Natural bre-EP EcoCor

Flax/hemp/sisal bre mat Bast bre mat Bast/PP bre

polyurethane Epoxy resin PP bre (Thermoplastic)

DP DP DP, Inserts, Seat adjustment DP Seat upholstery

Polixil FibreTec

Wood our (extrudate plates) Coir bre

PP (thermoplastic) Latex

in the distinctly inferior performance of unprocessed jute-based mats in automotive Fogging Tests. Odour: All bio-bres have a residual smell, ax is generally agreed to be worse than hemp or jute. Bio-bres have a strong potential in the automotive industry as jute, ax and hemp is 40% lighter than glass bres. The combination of interesting mechanical and physical properties is presented in Table 2. The main reasons inuencing the steady growth of natural bres in this sector include: . Comparative weight reduction of 1030% in comparable parts. . Good mechanical and manufacturing properties. . The possibility of forming complex components in a single machine pass. . Relatively good impact performance, with high stability and minimal splintering. . Occupational health advantages in assembly and handling compared to glass bre. . Moulding off cuts can be re-used unlike bre glass. . No emissions of toxic fumes when subjected to heat. . Good green credentials, as a sustainable renewable raw material resource. . Superior environmental balance during material and energetic use. . Recycling possibilities by incineration with energy recovery or by regrinding. . Relative cost advantages compared to conventional constructions. Constraining factors which are preventing the more widespread adoption of bio-bre substrates include: . Concerns over the consistency of quality of the bast bre supply this is equally true for hemp, ax and jute. . Concerns over the long term availability of bre.
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. Persistent technical problems, mostly connected with either bre quality from batch to batch, or grouped as emission problems (fogging and odour).

Process
In principle, the production techniques for natural bre composites can be similar to those for glass bres. Exceptions to this are techniques used where continuous bres are used like pultrusion (a yarn has to be made rst) or where bres are chopped like in spray-up or SMC-prepreg preparation. The processing techniques are discussed below. The most important technology is undoubtedly compression moulding. Different variations of this process, with details depending on the company developing the technology, are suitable for the processing of plant bres. Such a compression moulding of resinated natural bre mats, natural bre/PP hybrid mats and NMT (natural bre mat reinforced thermoplastics), has been developed by BASF AG, Germany.[21] Bruijin[16] conducted the highlights
Table 5. Typical weight of natural bres using in automotive component.[2] Automotive component Typical weight of bre kg Front door liners Rear door liners Boot liners Parcel shelves up to Seat backs Sunroof sliders up to NVH material min Headliners average 1.21.8 0.81.5 1.52.5 2.0 1.62.0 0.4 0.5 2.5

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Table 6.

Automotive manufacturers, models, and components using bio-bres. Model and application A2, A3, A4, A4 Avant, A6, A8, Roadstar, Coupe: Seat back, side and back door panel, boot lining, hat rack, spare tire lining 3, 5 and 7 series and others: Door panels, headliner panel, boot lining, Seat back A, C, E, S class: Door panels, windshield/dashboard, business table, piller cover panel; A class, Travego bus: exterior under body protection trim; M class: Instrumental panel (Now in S class: 27 parts manufactured from bio bres, weight 43 kg) Punto, Brava, Marea, Alfa Romeo 146, 156 Mondeo CD 162, Focus: Door panels, B-piller, boot liner Astra, Vectra, Zara: Headliner panel, door panels, pillar cover panel, instrumental panel New model 406 Clio Rover 2000 and others: Insulation, rear storage shelf/panel Door panels Door panels, seat back Golf A4, Passat Variant, Bora: Door panel, seat back, boot lid nish panel, boot liner C70, V70 Space star: Door panels; Colt: Instrumental panels

Automotive manufacturer Audi BMW Daimler-Chrysler Fiat Ford Opel Peugeot Renault Rover Saab SEAT Volkswagen Volvo Mitsubishi

of advantages and disadvantages of natural bre mat thermoplastics in automotive applications. The NMT was improved during the development process and came close to the performance of the GMT (glass bre mat reinforced thermoplastics). In general, the differences lie in the way bres and binding polymers are combined and brought into the mould. Some processes use a pre-melted polymer (e.g. the EXPRESS technology), some use a brous polymer that is combined with the plant bres into hybrid mats before compression moulding, and others use polymer powder that is introduced into the bre mats before compression moulding. As almost all processes use the bres in the form of mats, decordigation of the bres and the processing of the mats are key issues for the technology. The extrusion press processing (expressprocessing) was developed for the production of ax bre reinforced poly(propylene) at the research centre of DaimlerChrysler, Ulm, Germany. Table 3 give an overview of the use of wood and natural bre content, matrix and processing possibilities in the automotive industry. Johnson controls automotive[24] presented an overview of the state of the art of the use of plastic-natural bre composite materials for interior car parts and the technologies to produce such parts (injection moulding, low pressure injection moulding and co-injection moulding), with emphasis on the research lines performed on several kinds of natural and wood bres (jute, ax, kenaf, eucalyptus) to be applied to semi-shed products: granules (short natural bre) for injection moulding processes.

bres and silted with the addition of water, phenolic resin (as a binder) and cellulose, thereby giving a wood bre pulp. This is applied as slurry to a contoured part of the interior door panel, eliminating any water surplus. Through compression moulding at 230 to 250 8C, a blank is obtained which has only 50% of the former thickness. Following this, the blank undergoes vacuum forming in a pre-heated mould. Once specic holes have been stamped out, the nished support is obtained.

Wood Fibre/Phenolic Resin (Lignotock Process)

This process uses wood chips (preferentially red pine) as base material. The chips are shredded in two stages and mixed into a bre mass under the action of steam. After mixing in phenolic resin (as binder), hot thermoplastic and an adhesive cross-linking agent, the basic compound thus obtained is processed on a needle-punching unit into a needle-punched mat nearly 6 mm thick. From this the nished support is nally formed in a heated mould.

Polywood Process
In this process, a compound made up of 50% wood our and 50% poly(propylene) is rst extruded into a Polywood sheet that is the support material of the trim panel. The sheet is heated in an infrared oven, making it easy to form. The nished trim panel is then obtained through compression moulding.

Natural Fibre/PP (LoPreFin, Fibroax)

Natural bre/PP is made of two different types of bres. These are natural bres (ax, sisal or similar) on the one hand and thermoplastic bres (PP or similar) on the other hand. The two types of bre are mixed in a closed mixing chamber until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. The
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FIBRIT Process
The FIBRIT process is the rst process based on renewable raw materials. Chips of pine are washed, ground to wood-like
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Figure 2.

Automotive door in-liner, instrumental panel made from bio-bre reinforced composites.

non-woven mat obtained can be formed; the mat is placed in a heated mould and formed under pressure. The synthetic bres are melted and given the shape of the nished part.

Fibropur
A vegetable bre needle-punched mat is sprayed with a two component PU system. The sprayed mat is then heated in a mould at 125 8C and compressed to realize a light structural carrier.

which is a short bio bre reinforced polyolen to give the shape and resistance to the component. The nal structure is a sandwich (A-B-A). A summary of Johnson controls automotive processes considering materials and products use in different cars is presented in Table 4.[23]

Applications
The automotive industry requires composite materials that meet performance criteria as determined in a wide range of tests. Typical market specication includes the following criteria: . Ultimate breaking force and elongation . Flexural properties

COIXIL
COIXIL is a Johnson controls automotive co-injection technology with sequential injection of two different materials in the melted state from the same point, rst a soft TPO skin (A) and then a more rigid core material (B)

Figure 3. Automotive instrumental panel with integrated airbag ap made from bio-bre reinforced composites.
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Figure 4. Automotive interior components made from wood bre reinforced composites.

Figure 5. Under oor protection trim of Mercedes A class made from banana bre reinforced composites.

. . . . . .

Impact strength Fogging characteristics Flammability Odour Acoustic absorption Suitability for processing: temperature and dwell time . Dimensional stability . Water absorption . Crash behaviour

Most of the composites currently used by the industry are designed with long-term durability in mind. Generally, biobre can be used as both llers and reinforcement for automotive interior components. Current applications, together with typical weights of used natural bres are presented in Table 5. Bio-bre reinforcement in blended thermoplastics or resinated thermoset compression mouldings is now generally accepted for applications as door liners/panels, parcel shelves and boot liners.

Figure 6. Automotive exterior components made from ax bre reinforced composites.

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The manufacturers and models known to incorporate natural bres for such components to a greater or lesser extent[2,23] are presented in Table 6. The automotive components with bio-bre reinforced composites can be expected to increase steadily with increased model penetration. The following Figure 24 will show some automotive components manufactured by different bio-bre reinforced polymer composites. The automotive industries have been using bio bres for interior components for several years. But the new invention is that nowadays bio bre composites are used also in the exterior components of an automotive. DaimlerChryslers innovative application of abaca bre in exterior under oor protection for passenger cars has been recently recognized,[25,26] cf. Figure 5. Other exterior parts (front bumper, under oor trim of bus) from ax bre reinforced composites will follow within a short time,[27] cf. Figure 6. The automotive company Ford (Germany) is using kenaf bres imported from Bangladesh[28] in their model Ford Mondeo and the door panels of the Ford Mondeo are manufactured by kenaf reinforced poly(propylene) composites. Nowadays, 27 components of a car are manufactured from bio-bre reinforced composites with a total weight of 43 kg (73% more than the previous weight) for the newest Mercedes S class,[29] cf. Figure 7.

components (interior and exterior) are now made from bio-bre reinforced composite materials which are mainly based on poly(propylene) with reinforcing bio bres jute, ax, hemp, kenaf and wood. Of primary importance to the automotive industry is the weight reduction of the components, which is possible up to 30% when using bio-bres. Cost savings is another important factor. Therefore the future opportunities of using biobres as replacements for glass bres in automotive applications are enormous. Finally, engineers who previously worked for large automotive companies but felt they should be doing more toward helping the environment have developed a concept car. It is called the EcoCar and is advertised as a sustainable vehicle for the future, running on biofuels. It is built from bio bre composite panels that incorporate biodegradable resins as the matrix material. Andrzej K. Bledzki,a Omar Faruk,b Volker E. Sperber University of Kassel, Germany

Conclusion
The use of bio-bres for composite applications is being investigated throughout the world. Many automotive

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Figure 7. Newest Mercedes S class automotive components made from different bio bre reinforced composites.
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Contact details: Institut fur Werkstofftechnik, Kunststoff- und Recyclingtechnik, University of Kassel, Monchebergstr. 3, D34109 Kassel, Germany; E-mail: kutech@uni-kassel.de Present address: Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
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