Fire and Ageing Resistant Biocomposite for Transportation industrY
This project has received funding from the European Union’s LIFE15 program under grant agreement N° ENV/FR 000412
About
The use of composite materials, greatly appreciated in industries for their technical advantages, raises more and more concerns because of their high impact on the environment and poor recyclability. Indeed, composite materials are generally made of a specific resin in which integrates glass fibres, chosen for their technical qualities and low production costs but whose manufacturing processes are highly energy consuming, and require the use of sand as main component (70%), an increasingly scarce raw material.
FARBioTY proposes an alternative by using flax fibres, having equivalent qualities and a much lower ecological impact (less energy is needed, less CO2 emitted, no sand consumption). Despite of their outstanding qualities, the potential of this natural fibres is not fully exploited, especially due to combustibility concerns. FARBioTY aims to tackle this challenge by gathering a flax producer, a textile finishing company, two resin makers, fire resistant, an SME specialised in design and manufacturing of composite parts, and an independent laboratory to assess the results.
Objectives
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Project Progress
Expected Impacts
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Partners
As European leader in the field of flax production, the Depestele Group operates approximately 8000 ha of plains in Normandy and values the entire flax straw through long fibres, short fibres, shives and seeds.
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An integrated processing unit allows it to produce rovings and woven reinforcements using “engineering technical fibres” grown following a dedicated culture. These semi-finished products can also be commingled or pre-impregnated with thermoplastic or thermoset resins. The Group has also developed a specific equipment performing physicochemical treatments that greatly improve the impregnation capability and the mechanical performances of its semi-finished products. Depestele helps its customers in designing of their technical composite parts with the help of accurate finite elements simulation. In addition, a wide range of flax fibres reinforced compounds has been developed for the plastics industry.
Within FARBioTY, TVDC from the Depestele Group will be in charge of providing the raw material, flax, and to prepare rovings and weave them into composite reinforcements for the project. As the coordinator, TDVC will supervise the project’s proceeding from start to end, and beyond the project’s lifetime.
Operating at the meeting point between science and industry ever since it was founded in 1901, the Laboratoire national de métrologie et d’essais (LNE) offers its expertise to all parties concerned with the quality and safety of products: manufacturers, distributors, local authorities, consumer organizations, insurance companies, research bodies and public services.
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It functions as a public company with industrial and commercial status, under the aegis of the French Ministry of Industry, with about 800 qualified staff.t functions as a public company with industrial and commercial status, under the aegis of the French Ministry of Industry, with about 800 qualified staff.- Committed to speeding up progress, LNE provides manufacturers with the technical solutions they need toensure the quality and conformity of their products and market them worldwide.- Experienced metrology laboratory, it plays a key role in improving the quality of measurements forfundamental metrology and for industrial and legal metrology.- Working upstream of innovations, it develops measurement, testing and analysis methods that make iteasier to integrate new technologies and develop new products.- Multidisciplinary technical expert, it offers its extensive know-how to scientific, standardization andregulatory bodies and to consumer protection organizations.In the framework of the FARBioTY project, the LNE will perform all mechanical and fire resistance tests required for certifying the final product safety of use.
Sicomin is a leading formulator and manufacturer of advanced epoxy systems. Its dedicated team has over 30 years of experience in the production of high quality resins. Sicomin formulate highly specialised, custom made epoxies and off the shelf solutions & supply Aerospace, Defence, Marine, Renewable Energy, Sports and Civil Engineering.
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Within the framework of the FARBioTY project, SICOMIN’s expertise will supplement the one of NORD COMPOSITES by producing epoxy resins (while NC will provide the consortium with polyester systems)
POLYECIM is specialized in the design and manufacturing of composite parts with thermoset matrices.
Recognized in the industrial sub-contracting department, Polyecim also provides a 3D design support service. The company have excelled in this field for over 25 years.
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The company first manufactured bodywork parts for the car sector, and then expanded to the caravan, yachting and building (sanitation) sectors.
Polyecim will be in charge of the biocomposites production and final manufacture of the flax fibre made composite into a piece complying with the regulations and norms of the railway sector.
Veramtex is a textile finishing company. It focuses exclusively on treatments using ammonia. The treatment applied with liquefied ammonia at -33°C improves many characteristics of cellulose fabrics (eg: ironability), as the result of the transformation of the physical structure of the fibre.
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It also implies better accessibility for further chemical treatments. The ammonia is also used in gas form, this, combined with appropriate chemicals, imparts permanent flame retardancy characteristics to the fabric.
Within FARBioTY, Veramtex will have an essential role as it will be in charge of the fireproof treatment the flax fabrics to improve their fire resistance.
NORD COMPOSITES was created on 1988 and has now 3 production units : in France, in United Kingdom and in Italy. With a turnover of 60 millions of euros and a worldwide location all over 42 countries thanks to distributors, NORD COMPOSITES has become a major specialist in gel coats, fire retardant resins and mould system products.
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The products development has been focus on sanitary, air wind industry, swimming pool, railway industry, building and automotive industry.
NORD COMPOSITES will bring to the FARBioTY project its expertise in the manufacture of polyester fire retardant resin for producing the demonstrating biocomposite materials and final product.