For several years now, and for reasons that are economic (rise in oil prices), environmental, strategic (reduction in oil reserves) and geopolitical (concentration of deposits in a few parts of the world), materials produced using renewable resources have seen a considerable upsurge in interest. However, their development is hampered by two important factors: cost and technical feasibility.
BIOMAT: a research project on biomaterials for the vehicle industry
The purpose of this collaborative research project* initiated by FAURECIA was to replace some materials produced using fossil resources by those made of renewable resources (plants) for use in some internal vehicle parts such as seats, air ducts, door panels, etc. Maximising the share of biosourced carbon in basic materials requires the use of plant fibres such as linen or hemp, etc.
INRA's contribution
The collaboration with INRA focused on improving the mechanical performance of the composite material by through the control of fibre quality. And indeed, an INRA thesis project fully integrated in BIOMAT enabled the development of tools dedicated to characterising the morphology of plant fibres and revealing the most favourable morphological types. This work completely overturned the basic concepts accepted hitherto now with respect to fibreglass composites.
* This project was accredited by the Industry and Agro-resources Competitiveness Cluster (IAR) and received joint funding from the FUI (Single Interministerial Fund) and regional government bodies (Picardy and Champagne-Ardennes regions).
Scientific leader:
Bernard Kurek
Inra - UMR FARE
Fractionnement des AgroRessources et Environnement
Centre de Recherche en Environnement et Agronomie
2 esplanade Roland Garros
51686 REIMS CEDEX 2
Information contact:
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See also
