On February 27, four Italian companies jointly presented the results of Life Biobcomo's research at a conference in Naples, southern Italy, where the results were presented.
The four companies are SAPA Group (a company that produces injection-molded automotive components), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), Fiat Research Center (Stellantis) and Sò
The project aims to develop low-density biocomposites with thermoplastic resin and cellulose fiber reinforcement for lightweighting applications in the automotive industry.
Once the project is successfully completed, SAPA Group will produce biocomposite components at its Arpaia plant in the province of Benevento (a city in the Italian region of Campania), while using a proprietary single-use injection molding process to produce the components.
The use of resin and cellulose fiber composites can reduce the weight of automotive components by up to 8% compared to plastics currently used in the same applications, with benefits from an environmental standpoint as well.
Biocomposite dashboard Lancia Ypsilon One of the first products developed by Biobcompo on behalf of Stellantis is the Lancia Ypsilon dashboard, which is injection molded from a hybrid biocomposite with high mechanical properties, composed of 20% cellulose fibers and 10% glass fiber reinforced polypropylene. The component has passed qualification tests and will be installed in Stellantis Group vehicles in the future.
According to a Canadian study of performance biofibers (PBI) (1), the tensile strength of PP composites increased by 9-14%, PA composites by 3-14%, and PLA composites with fiber loadings between 10% and 30% increased by 19-31%. Tensile modulus increased by 5-76% for PP, 45-116% for PA, and 41-97% for PLA. flexural strength increased by 26-64% for PP, reached 3-11% for PA, and 40-45% for PLA. HDT increased by 60%, 37%, and 134% for PP, PA, and PLA, respectively.
