REINFORCEMENT | NATURAL FIBRES AND FILLERS
Above: Ford replaced a 40% talc filled PP with a 20% coffee chaff filled PP alternative in this headlamp housing for its Lincoln Continental, estimating a 5% cost saving, 17% weight saving and 25% reduction in process energy
product. While initial trials had problems such as odour and water absorption, carbonisation of the coffee chaff solved these concerns and resulted in better compatibility with the PP matrix, says Kiziltas. Improved compatibility, along with the reduced hydrophilicity of the carbonised filler, results in less moisture absorption by the composite part. The Ford team developed a PP formulation using 20% coffee chaff biocarbon to replace 40% talc for an injection-moulded headlamp housing in the 2020 Lincoln Continental. “Using the coffee chaff biocarbon, we reduced weight by 17% and cost by 5%, with no sacrifice to processing or part performance,” says Kiziltas. Ford was also able to use lower processing
temperatures for moulding the biocomposite part,
which resulted in shorter cooling cycles and energy savings. “There is an additional saving of around 15% in the energy consumed when extruding biocarbon filled materials due to the inherent lubricity of organic materials compared with the rheology of inorganic materials. Overall, we estimate this innovative composite material results in a total energy saving of 25%,” says Kiziltas. The Ford R&D team is also considering biocar- bon fillers, made using pyrolysis of biomass to yield a porous substance, as a solution to improve thermal stability of natural materials. “Natural fibres have lower thermal stability than many synthetic fibre alternatives, limiting their application to low-processing temperature polymers, less than 200°C, and low-temperature automotive environ- ments. Our recent studies proved that we can use biocarbon [as a filler in] engineering thermoplas- tics composites such as PA6 and PA66.”
Nano cellulose Canada’s Performance Biofilaments, which is backed by Mercer International and Resolute Forest Products, says that its proprietary process technology takes wood fibres and converts them to nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) with high strength and purity. NFC materials are being evaluated in thermoplastics for a range of applications, accord- ing to Geoff Fisher, Director of Business Develop- ment at the company. Performance Biofilaments recently completed a test series with a third-party automotive materials R&D centre in Canada. “We compounded our NFC material in a hybrid system with glass fibre in polypropylene compounds and obtained promising
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IMAGE: FORD MOTOR COMPANY
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