CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS BASED UPON BIOLOGICALLY RENEWABLE RESOURCES - FROM COMPONENTS TO FINISHED PARTS

By embedding natural fibres, e.g. flax, hemp, ramie, etc. into a biopo lymeric matrix made of derivatives from cellulose, starch, lactic acid , etc., new fibre reinforced materials, the so-called biocomposites, w ere created at the DLR Institute of Structural Mechanics in 1989 and a re still being developed. As far as the mechanical properties are conc erned, biocomposites are comparable to the well-known glass fibre rein forced compounds. Therefore, the new construction materials are very w ell suited to be used for anisotropic and specially tailored lightweig ht structural parts, making use of the DLR knowledge in fibre reinforc ed technology. Some samples and structures will be shown in the presen tation. Whereas traditional compounds consist of very stable component s which are very difficult to decompose, biocomposites are made comple tely from biologically renewable resources. This offers additional pos sibilities of a convenient removal after the end of the lifetime, i.e. biodegration, composting or carbon dioxide neutral combustion. Thus, biocomposites can also meet the steadily increasing environmental dema nds of legislative authorities. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Limited. All rights reserved.