Source: compositesworld.com
Three winners were selected from six nominees for Biocomposite of the Year innovation awards at the recent Biocomposites Conference Cologne (BCC), held December 6-7.
The 230 participants in the 2017 Biocomposites Conference Cologne (BCC), the conference on natural fiber and wood-plastic composites organized by nova-Institute (Cologne, Germany) held December 6-7 in Cologne, Germany, chose three winners from six nominees for Biocomposite of the Year innovation awards. The award highlights biocomposites and their applications that entered the market in 2017 or are just about to be launched, in a wide range of applications such as construction, automotive and consumer goods. Appearance and feel, green image, weight savings, shorter cycle times, scratch resistance and, above all, a lower CO2 footprint are important factors for this trend.
nova-Institute and Coperion GmbH (Stuttgart, Germany), the sponsor of the Biocomposite of the Year Innovation Awards, are proud to announce the winners:
Eindhoven University of Technology (Eindhoven, Netherlands): Fully bio-based pedestrian bridge: A fully bio-based pedestrian bridge, the first in the world, has been realized at the Eindhoven University of Technology. After a successful load test (5 kN/m2), the bridge was installed by the company NPSP bv. Flax and hemp fibers provide the strength for the bridge, combined with a bio-based epoxy resin. Polylactic acid (PLA) bio-foam provides the core. The production method was vacuum-infusion: layers of natural fibers were glued around a laser-cut shape of bio-foam. www.tue.nl/en/university/news-and-press/news/24-10-2016-the-worlds-first-biocomposite-bridge-on-the-tue-campus/.
This fourteen meter long ‘biobridge’ is made from a hemp and flax-fiber base and is the result of collaboration between a large number of knowledge institutions and companies. The Eindhoven city councilor Mary-Ann Schreurs will perform the official public opening ceremony on Thursday 27 October at 4.15 pm.
Students from TU/e, TU Delft and the Eindhoven region’s vocational colleges, among others, have been building the bridge over recent weeks. Tuesday afternoon 25 October the bridge will be placed across the stream the Dommel, on the TU/e campus by the Auditorium. Fibers of hemp and flax are the basic material of the bridge. In order to develop the biocomposite, the fibers were stuck to a biological PLA foam (polylactic acid) core and then a bioresin was sucked into the fiber layers using a vacuum, which produced a very strong girder when hardened.
SensorsLast Friday the bridge load capacity was successfully tested for the municipality of Eindhoven. The idea is that the ‘biobridge’ should remain for a year. Twenty-eight sensors in the bridge will measure the bending that occurs. “There have been previous construction projects with biomaterials, but never before were they bearing structures made entirely of biomaterials,” says TU/e researcher and project leader Rijk Blok. “Through this experiment we hope to learn a lot about the behavior of the biocomposite over the longer term.”
GoalThe initiators hope that this bridge will show the potential of biocomposite as a sustainable alternative for existing environmentally harmful construction materials. “Using biocomposite in constructions reduces our dependence on finite fossil resources and brings us a step closer to the circular economy in which products and resources are reused,” Blok says. “In time, I expect that we will see more of these materials in our buildings."
CollaborationThe bridge is the result of the 4TU Lighthouse research project ‘B3: Fully Bio-Based composite pedestrian Bridge’. The partners were TU/e (chair Innovative Structural Design), TU Delft, composite company NPSP and the Center of Expertise Biobased Economy, a collaboration between Avans Hogeschool and HZ University of Applied Sciences. The project was co-funded by Stichting Innovatie Alliantie (SIA).
SensorsLast Friday the bridge load capacity was successfully tested for the municipality of Eindhoven. The idea is that the ‘biobridge’ should remain for a year. Twenty-eight sensors in the bridge will measure the bending that occurs. “There have been previous construction projects with biomaterials, but never before were they bearing structures made entirely of biomaterials,” says TU/e researcher and project leader Rijk Blok. “Through this experiment we hope to learn a lot about the behavior of the biocomposite over the longer term.”
GoalThe initiators hope that this bridge will show the potential of biocomposite as a sustainable alternative for existing environmentally harmful construction materials. “Using biocomposite in constructions reduces our dependence on finite fossil resources and brings us a step closer to the circular economy in which products and resources are reused,” Blok says. “In time, I expect that we will see more of these materials in our buildings."
CollaborationThe bridge is the result of the 4TU Lighthouse research project ‘B3: Fully Bio-Based composite pedestrian Bridge’. The partners were TU/e (chair Innovative Structural Design), TU Delft, composite company NPSP and the Center of Expertise Biobased Economy, a collaboration between Avans Hogeschool and HZ University of Applied Sciences. The project was co-funded by Stichting Innovatie Alliantie (SIA).
The other biocomposite award winners are:
GreenBoats (Bremen, Germany): Green Bente24 – boat from 80% renewable materials: Usually, mass-produced boats are made of fossil-based resins, glass fibers and plastic foam. By contrast, GreenBente24 from GreenBoats is made from 80% renewable materials like flax, cork and bio-based epoxy resin. The GreenBente24 has the same weight and stiffness as a standard boat. The boat achieves a 80% reduction of carbon footprint compared to other options, is thermally recyclable and has a particularly pleasant living climate. www.green-boats.de/greenbente.
Raimund Beck Nageltechnik GmbH (Mauerkirchen, Austria): LignoLoc – Collated wooden nails: Nails made from wood are one of the oldest known fasteners in the world, thus Raimund Beck Nageltechnik GmbH has developed collated wooden nails (arranged in strips) for use with pneumatic nail guns. This new technology requires no pre-drilling, offers maximum holding power due to a natural welding effect with the base wood and offers new application fields for domestic beech wood veneer and can replace aluminum or steel nails in many applications. www.beck-lignoloc.com/en
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