Materials & Design | |
Biomimetic approaches towards lightweight composite structures for car interior parts | |
Katharina Haag1  Katrin Greta Hoffmann2  Jörg Müssig2  | |
[1] Empa, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland;The Biological Materials Group, Department of Biomimetics, HSB–City University of Applied Sciences, Neustadtswall 30, D-28199 Bremen, Germany; | |
关键词: Natural fibre-reinforced plastic; Composite material; Needle felt; Sandwich structure; Phormium tenax; Trachemys scripta elegans; | |
DOI : | |
来源: DOAJ |
【 摘 要 】
Due to good density specific mechanical properties and low carbon footprint, natural fibre-reinforced plastic composites made from fleeces and felts are frequently used as automotive interior parts. The industry targets further mass reduction. Following a biomimetic technology-pull approach, natural fibre-reinforced polypropylene plates with improved lightweight potential were produced using compression moulding. Best results were obtained for a sandwich structure with thin, unidirectional flax fibre layers surrounding a needle felt based core. It was inspired by the carapace structure of the red-eared slider Trachemys scripta elegans. The lay-up performed well, not only with a high density specific flexural stiffness of 2.33 GPa1/3 cm3/g, strength of 9.46 MPa1/2 cm3/g, and energy dissipation but also through less abrupt failure due to an asymmetric orientation of unidirectional fibres in the two face sheets. Combined with a mass-reduced needle felt as a core, this concept displays a promising and unconventional approach for further mass reduced, sustainable interior panels used as non-visible and visible design elements in the vehicle.
【 授权许可】
Unknown