The eco-design and mechanical-performance advantages of flax and hemp will be heavily highlighted at this week’s 2013 JEC Europe trade show in Paris (March 12-14).
A special forum on Wednesday 13 March from 2:30-5:30 pm chaired by Arnaud Duval of Faurecia will explore the potential of bio-composites for automotive applications, in thermoplastic composites, lightweight structure and electric cars.
The following day (March 14 10:30 am-5:30 pm), Ignaas Verpoest of CELC (The European Confederation of Flax and Hemp) will host the Bio-based Materials and Sustainability Conference exploring many more aspects of natural fibres in the composites arena.
In all application sectors and at all levels of technical requirement, the composites industry is increasingly being affected by eco-design issues and the heightened challenge of lowering the weight of mechanical parts, says CELC. The advantages of flax and hemp reinforcements are already helping to improve the environmental footprint of composites and to save on weight, especially in the automotive and leisure sectors, where there is positive feedback on the use of these two European natural fibres. In depth scientific investigation into the technical performance of flax and hemp and the fact that the results have been widely shared have boosted industrial initiatives and even the operational implementation of these two fibres in highly demanding sectors like aerospace.
CELC’s Technical Section is keeping pace with these developments, working through its European scientific committee CSE to back up its industry’s innovations scientifically and pass them on.
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