MATERIALS IN DESIGN & PROTOTYPING FEATURE


ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS WITH NATURAL FIBRE COMPOSITES


From road to race track: While BMW announces that Bcomp’s flax-based materials are going to be used extensively in the exterior and interior of its cars, the Four Motors Porsche GT3 Cup will be taking to the track


at this year’s 2025 Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race with its exterior body components produced in Bcomp’s grey ampliTex material


S


ustainability is growing in importance across industries, not least the automotive industry where sustainable components


and materials are becoming an essential tool. At the forefront of this is Bcomp, a company initially launched in 2021 with a mission to create lightweight yet high-performance skis. Today, it is a leader in natural fibre composites for sustainable lightweighting, with its solutions found in industries from sports and motorsports to automotive interiors, luxury sailing yachts, bridges and satellite panels. In fact the company has recently announced


a collaboration in which Bcomp, Porsche Motorsport and Four Motors will be launching the ‘next evolution’ in natural fibre composites at the 2025 Nürburgring 24 Hours.


SUSTAINABLE COMPOSITES For the endurance event, the Four Motors Porsche GT3 Cup will use exterior body components produced with Bcomp’s grey ampliTex, highlighting a new and innovative aesthetic for one of the world’s leading high- performance natural fibre composite materials. This is said to represent a new chapter for the design and aesthetic viability of high-performance sustainable composites in motorsport. The Bcomp grey tone of the parts showcases


how natural materials can be tailored to blend seamlessly with high-performance design, beyond the natural gold-brown appearance of flax-fibres seen in earlier models. Road relevance is further reinforced by painted surfaces on the exterior parts, rather than the foil typically used in race components. While adhesive films (foils) are used to allow for rapid design changes, the use of paint further


demonstrates the feasibility of natural fibre composites in high-performance road cars. The hood, rear wing end plates and front bumper dive planes of this year’s Four Motors Porsche GT3 Cup car have been reverse engineered by Bcomp. Previously made from aluminium and carbon fibre for the production race car, these parts were manufactured using Bcomp’s coloured ampliTex flax fibre reinforcement fabrics. When produced in an autoclave in combination with Bcomp’s powerRibs, natural fibre parts can achieve an equivalent stiffness and weight to carbon-fibre components. They also meet, and even surpass, the same high safety and quality standards, offering 250% better vibration damping and improved crash behaviour, mitigating against the splintering often associated with carbon fibre. Further to this, ampliTex is manufactured


with significantly less energy, enabling a CO2 emission reduction of up to 85%. Tom von Löwis, CEO and driver at Four


Motors, commented: “A major paradigm shift is taking place. In showcasing the latest advancements in sustainable technologies through racing, we are not only inspiring change within motorsport but also facilitating progress in other vital mobility sectors, further demonstrating our commitment to – and ambition for – a greener future for the sector.


LIGHTWEIGHTING FOR BMW Bcomp’s flax-based materials are also going to be used extensively in the exterior and interior of BMW cars. Both companies have worked closely together for a number of years to


research and develop the use of CO2 reduced materials, and prove their performance in a


race environment – and have now succeeded in making them ready for series production. Bcomp’s technologies make it possible to


replace parts traditionally made with carbon fibre. As an example, exchanging carbon fibre composites for Bcomp’s high-performance natural fibre composites in the roof of the


next-generation BMW M3 leads to a CO2e reduction of around 40% in production plus additional end-of-life considerations. Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M, stated:


“Natural fibre composites are a vital element of innovative lightweight solutions in motorsport,


allowing for a reduction in CO2e emissions in the manufacturing process. Natural fibre is an innovation that perfectly exemplifies BMW M’s claim ‘Born on the racetrack. Made for the streets’. This is why we are delighted to confirm the series maturity of these materials, a breakthrough we achieved with our official BMW M Motorsport partner Bcomp. We are now looking forward to the use of these materials in future BMW M product ranges.”


BComp www.bcomp.com


JULY/AUGUST 2025 DESIGN SOLUTIONS 37


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