Development of regenerated cellulose reinforcements and their use in structural composites for automotive applications

Abstract

There is need for the bio‐based materials which could fully or partly replace the synthetic materials in automotive components. Several studies have been suggested to incorporate natural fiber based materials into automotives, and regenerated cellulose fibers could have a great potential several automotive applications. In the paper we will describe ongoing research where we study non‐woven viscose and Lyocell as well as uniaxial continuous viscose filament reinforcements for the use in structural composites. Hybrid reinforcements based on regenerated cellulose fibers and glass fibers have also been studied, with the intention to optimize the reinforcement durability. The uniaxial viscose filament reinforcements were prepared by a winding technique, and we have also combined the viscose filament with continuous hemp yarns as well as different thermoplastic yarns. Both thermoset and thermoplastic composites were then produced by compression moulding with a pressure of 40 bar and at the temperature between 160‐170°C for 5 minutes. The resulting composites have been characterized regarding mechanical and thermal properties