REINFORCEMENTS | NATURAL FIBRES AND FILLERS
Right: Close-up of a part injection moulded in NAFILean by Faurecia JV operation APM
a leading producer of bioproducts and bioenergy. “In the first phase Aqvacomp will increase the Rauma plant capacity to 5,000 tonnes/yr [over] a few years, matching the increasing demand of the market,” says Managing Director Jari Haapanen. The raw material (cellulose fibres) is pumped
directly through a pipeline to its biocomposite process. “Aqvacomp is working closely together with [the] automotive and home electronics sector in product development where the focus is on application-driven tailored solutions to Aqvacomp customers,” Haapanen says. “The latest collabora- tion has been the development of an acoustic composite for LG’s SJ9 Soundbar.”
Not just for newbies Compounding with bio-fillers is not just for compa- nies specialising in the bio-based sector. Several mainstream compounders also have offerings. PolyOne, for example, says that since introduction in 2016, its reSound NF materials “have inspired the testing of new designs at manufacturers of automo- tive components, furniture, consumer and sporting goods, packaging, and others.” According to Jean-Paul Scheepens, Global
Director of Product Management, Specialty Engineered Materials, the interest across so many diverse industries stems from the material’s novel mix of performance and aesthetics. “We introduced reSound NF solutions as a drop-in replacement for glass fibre reinforced polypropylene, at a lower density and with comparable or improved proper- ties,” he says. “That balance grabbed the attention of manufacturers in weight-sensitive industries such as transportation. But the attractive graining and aesthetics of parts moulded with reSound NF, coupled with our ability to supply reSound NF in a range of appealing earth tones, helped interest spread well beyond the transportation industry.” Scheepens says many natural fibre reinforced compounds have had issues that hampered their
use in commercial applications: water absorption (and a corresponding drop in mechanical perfor- mance), odour and mould growth being among them. “PolyOne has been able to overcome these challenges for reSound NF,” he claims. “Moisture absorption testing of reSound NF grades with 40% fibre content revealed that tensile bars moulded of the material absorb less than 0.5% moisture when saturated in water for 300 hours of testing. Perhaps more importantly, this low level of absorption has a negligible effect on mechanical properties such as tensile elongation, density, shrinkage, and notched impact strength.” Fogging and odour are not issues with reSound NF either, the supplier points out. Tests results for reSound NF at 40% levels of fibre loading are below those for fogging of 30% glass fibre rein- forced PP, the company claims, and results with reSound NF at 30% fibre loading are comparable to 30% GFR-PP for both fogging and odour. The material also performs well in two-component mouldings, showing high adhesion to compatible thermoplastic elastomers.
Automotive on a cusp Whatever the interest in such materials beyond transport, it is certain that if automotive OEMs can be convinced to use them the volumes could be
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PHOTO: APM
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