Vacuum-assisted pultrusion of bio-composite injection molding precursors for the automotive industry

汽车行业生物复合材料注塑前体的真空辅助拉挤成型

• 批准号: 523351-2018
• 负责人: LabergeLebel, Louis
• 金额: $ 9.11万
• 依托单位: École Polytechnique de Montréal
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Idea to Innovation
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=656253
• 关键词: Vacuum; assisted; pultrusion; bio; composite

The automotive industry is forced by regulations to constantly reduce the environmental footprint of their products. This drives the development of new materials and process with lower environmental footprint. One approach consists in adding natural fibers to thermoplastic polymers to reinforce vehicle interior components. Renewable fibers such as flax, or hemp, confer high mechanical properties to plastic components while also providing obvious environmental benefits. However, blending flax fibers to polymers is challenging. Few techniques are able to both achieve (i) intimate mixing of polymers and fibers as well as (ii) sustaining production volumes needed for the automotive industry. We have developed and patented a new technology, the multi-mold vacuum assisted pultrusion, that can potentially solve both aspects of the challenge. Using this technology, we have produced flax/PP rods with good reinforcement distribution and low porosity. These high-quality rods can be pelletized and used as injection molding precursors. Following interest from automotive OEMs such as Ford Motor Co., we intend to demonstrate the applicability our technology to the production of biocomposite injection precursors for the automotive industry. To achieve this goal in this one year, we will thoroughly characterize the constituents, flax and polypropylene. Then we will investigate pultrusion mold shapes and coating to accelerate our production speed to more than 1 m/min. The pultruded biocomposites will be pelletized and used as precursors for injection molding. This project will allow us to demonstrate to key automotive industry players the scalability of our technology for the production of greener vehicles.

法规强迫汽车行业不断减少其产品的环境足迹。这可以通过较低的环境足迹驱动新材料和过程的开发。一种方法是将天然纤维添加到热塑性聚合物中以增强车辆内部成分。亚麻或大麻等可再生纤维赋予塑料组件的高机械性能，同时还提供明显的环境益处。但是，将亚麻纤维与聚合物混合在一起是具有挑战性的。很少有技术能够实现（i）聚合物和纤维的亲密混合以及（ii）汽车行业所需的生产量。我们已经开发并申请了一种新技术，即多数真空辅助裁缝，可以解决挑战的两个方面。使用这项技术，我们生产了具有良好增强分布和低孔隙率的亚麻/PP棒。这些高质量的棒可以被颗粒化并用作注射成型前体。在福特汽车公司（Ford Motor Co.）等汽车OEM的兴趣之后，我们打算证明我们对汽车行业生物复合注射前体的技术的适用性。为了在这一年中实现这一目标，我们将彻底描述亚麻和聚丙烯的成分。然后，我们将研究细胞置模形状和涂层，以将生产速度加速至1 m/min以上。果皮的生物复合材料将被固定并用作注射成型的前体。该项目将使我们能够向关键的汽车行业参与者展示我们技术以生产绿色车辆的可扩展性。