Chinese bamboo fibre composites: an opportunity for automotive interiors

Key technology and application of bamboo fibre composite materials for automotive interiors and a new product – a bamboo fibre automotive interior headliner-, developed under the leadership of the International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan of China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration, have passed expert evaluation.

This new technology fully leverages the inherent properties of bamboo fibre to develop bamboo fibre automotive interior parts, opening the door for the widespread application of bamboo products in the automotive field. Under the global aim of “health and safety, green and low-carbon and lightweight”, finding a material that can meet mechanical, safety and process requirements while reducing environmental burden has become an urgent issue for the automotive industry.

The research team led by the International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan recognised the enormous potential of bamboo as an engineering material. However, transforming flexible bamboo fibres into irregularly shaped structural components that meet stringent automotive standards is no easy task. Over more than a decade, the research team has continuously tackled a series of key technologies, including bamboo fibre manufacturing and its material properties, bamboo-plastic composite interface control and bamboo fibre composite moulding.

Technical challenges

First, lightweighting was achieved. The bamboo fibre lightweight manufacturing technology developed by the R&D team allows the bamboo fibre content in the board to reach up to 75% while the density can be controlled to ≤ 0.5 g/cm³. This means that, for the same volume, bamboo fibre composite materials are much lighter than traditional plastics and other materials. In addition, its irregular moulding depth can reach more than 25 mm, meeting the complex three-dimensional shaping requirements of components such as trunk side panels and automotive interior headliners, achieving a balance between irregular structures and lightweighting.

Secondly, the team overcame the challenge of interface integration, achieving a balance between rigidity and flexibility. Bamboo fibre is a hydrophilic natural organic material, while polymer resin is a hydrophobic chemical material.

First applications in Chinese electric cars

Currently, one bamboo fibre production line and two bamboo fibre composite material production lines with an annual output of 200,000 square metres have been established, enabling mass production of a series of products such as automotive interior headliners and seat back panels. The Baojun Enjoy model, equipped with bamboo fibre interior trim, made its debut at the recent World Forestry Congress.

source: Wuling/ Jeccomposites.com