A review of natural fibre composites in automotive industry
2009
Aidy Ali | Mohd Sapuan Salit | Khalina Abdan | Makinejad, Majid Davoodi | Desa Ahmad
The annual rate of vehicle production in the world is assumed to be 58 millions. Car manufacturers are currently required to try to make every component recyclable or biodegradable based on the European Union End-of Life Vehicles (ELV) Directive. Manufacturers should consider the environmental impact of their products at all stages of their life cycle. Hence, the use of natural fibres (NF) in automotive products has shown an increase of 50% from 2000 to 2005. About 20 kg of NFs are used in new car models which contribute significantly to weight reduction, cost-cutting and sound insulation. Furthermore, NFs are important replacements for oil-derived products due to rapid run-ups in oil price. A natural fibre is obtained from animals, plants or minerals. Plant fibres are extracted from bast, leaf, seed, fruit as well as wood. The bast fibre composites such as kenaf, hemp and flax, demonstrate low density and reasonable mechanical properties. They have potential to be great reinforcements in lightweight composite parts. Natural fibres are reasonably priced, renewable, recyclable, and present lower density. However, the inherent incompatibility of the hydrophilic natural fibres with hydrophobic thermoplastic matrix leads to weak interfaces and poor mechanical properties as well as swelling and dimensional instability but natural fibres almost fulfill all the requirements in order to replace inorganic fibres in thermoplastic or thermoset composites for some application. The aim of this chapter is to review relevant papers related to the application of natural fibre composites in automotive industry.
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