JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #111 - March 2017 - Special JEC World - 65

JEC WORLD 2017
NAFILite™, a microcellular foamed material reinforced
with natural fibers for automotive weight saving improvement
To meet environmental concerns in the automotive industry, this innovation focuses on
reducing environmental impacts throughout
the material's life cycle. Whereas traditional
composites make it possible to reduce the
CO2 emissions of vehicle during their in-service life, bio-sourced composites can help
further reduce this impact with the help of
non-fossil based resources during both the
manufacturing process and end-of-life disposal.
Inscribed in their innovation strategy on
weight saving, Faurecia has developed this
innovative bio-sourced concept: NAFILite™,
a microcellular foamed material reinforced
with hemp natural fibers.
NAFILite™ combines a microcellular
foaming process based on injection (with
mould-opening technology) with the existing NAFILean™ material grade: an injectable

SUSTAINABILITY

and recyclable material made of 20% hemp
fibres and polypropylene. The NAFILean™
compound with 20% renewable content
is injected with some additives in a closed
mould. The mould is then slightly opened to
accommodate the material's expansion (due
to CO2 release).
This resulting foam is 30% lighter than the
current market reference for injected structural parts used in automotive interiors. The
combination of weight savings, renewable
natural fibres and a recyclable thermoplastic
material reduces its environmental impact by
up to 30%.
Furthermore, to reach quality standards of
automotive OEMs, the microcellular structure of the final material provides improved
perceived quality in terms of robustness and
fit and finish, and also presents good thermo-mechanical properties (especially part

bending stiffness) versus standard materials.
This further step in the deployment of greener and more sustainable solution enables to
offer complete pre-validated technical concept for a secured implementation, with a
strong system integration maturity in automotive systems.

BETTER LIVING

Vision of the Fjords, Ship of the Year 2016 in Norway
When Brødrene AA was commissioned to
develop a ship for use on tourist excursions
in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed
fjord of Nærøyfjord, it faces the challenge
of combining mass tourism and the need to
preserve the environment with an impact
as low as possible. The solution Brødrene
AA came up with was a ship with lots of
external open spaces for sightseeing as well
as vast window areas and efficient catamaran design to reduce waves and wash on the
shores of the fjord.
The only solution that provided the required
stiffness to realise the designers' intention
was carbon fibre reinforced polymers and

Company: Faurecia (France)
Co-Winner: Automotive Performance
Materials (APM) (France)

carbon sandwich materials. All of the ship's
structural elements are made out of carbon
sandwich laminates (decks, walls, stairs, ceilings...), including the 42-metre-long and
5-metre-high hulls of the catamaran structure, which are done in a one-shot vacuum
infusion process, thus making the Vision of
the Fjord the largest commercial passenger
boat to be built in carbon fibre. Saertex provided the fabrics, Diab the low-weight core
for the sandwich composite and Reichhold
the rubber modified vinylester.
The low weight of the sandwich laminates
also enabled the ship to be propelled by
electric motors with lower power, making

Company: Brødrene AA (Norway)
Co-Winners: Saertex GmbH & Co KG
(Germany), DIAB group (Norway),
Reichhold (Norway)

it clean and silent. In this project, the use of
composite materials was mandatory to be
able to provide the required design while
making the ship environmentally friendly
in the process as well.

No111 March 2017

/ jec composites magazine

65
http://www.intermas-industry.com
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