Composites Evolution, supplier of sustainable composite materials, will be presenting on the topic of Hybrid Carbon-Biocomposite Automotive Structures with Reduced Weight, Cost, NVH and Environmental Impact at the inaugural bio!CAR conference that takes place from 24-25 September, alongside Composites Europe at the exhibition centre in Stuttgart, Germany.

"There is a growing impetus for the use of natural, lightweight, plastics in the automotive sector. The need to reduce vehicle weight is leading to the adoption of carbon fibre, which is expensive, energy/CO2 intensive, difficult to recycle and can lead to poor NVH,” said Gareth Davies, Composites Evolution Sales Manager.

“Flax fibres are low cost, renewable, CO2 neutral and have excellent vibration damping properties, whilst bio-based epoxy resins offer enhanced toughness and sustainability over synthetic epoxies. During the presentation I will show important results that show the value that biocomposites, and specifically flax, can add to the automotive sector."

Bio-based alternatives

The conference will concentrate on biobased materials for automotive applications and is being organised by bioplastics MAGAZINE and nova-Insitute.

The conference is aimed at reflecting the trend towards using bio-based polymers and natural fibres in the automotive industry where it says more and more manufacturers and suppliers are betting on bio-based alternatives derived from renewable raw materials such as wood, cotton, flax, jute or coir, all of which are being deployed as composites in the interior trims of high-quality doors and dashboards.

CARBIO project

Composites Evolution will discuss results from the UK funded CARBIO Project, with Jaguar Land Rover. The CARBIO project is part-funded by Innovate UK. The partners are Composites Evolution, SHD Composite Materials, KS Composites, Delta Motorsport, Jaguar Land Rover and Cranfield University.

It aims to develop automotive structures with reduced weight, cost, environmental impact and improved noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) by the incorporation of novel flax-bioepoxy composites into carbon fibre components, has now built a hybrid vehicle roof.

www.compositesevolution.com