Development of New Bioproducts for Ground Transportation Applications

1. Development of New Bioproducts for Ground Transportation Applications

2. Composite Bus Applications • Requirements – Parts, Reinforcements, Raw Materials • Achievements • Conclusions/Recommendations INTRODUCTION

3. PRODUCTS Over The Road And Inner City Buses • Styling changes, alternate fuels, construction technologies and weight reduction - led to an increase in composite applications COMPOSITE BUS APPLICATIONS

4. Products - Exterior Sidewall Panels Rear Cap Front Cap Under Floor Panels Door and Fender Panels • Construction: fibreglass reinforcements with polyester or vinyl ester resins • Fibreglass reinforcements consist of E glass mat and woven materials • Core materials are included in some products Material Forms COMPOSITE BUS APPLICATIONS

5. REQUIREMENTS – BUS PARTS

6. The following requirements pertain to noncontinuous fibreglass mats used in bus panels REQUIREMENTS - MATS

7. REQUIREMENTS - BIOFIBRES

8. Bus Demonstration Parts Motor Coach Industries J4500 series are the best selling intercity coaches in North America Battery door is an exterior door for the battery compartment: fabricated from fibreglass polyester with foam core Side wall is a fibreglass reinforced part ACHIEVEMENTS

9. Random Hemp Fibre Mat • Hemp fibre mat selected • Mat produced in rolls to the following specification ACHIEVEMENTS

10. Random Hemp Fibre Mat • Permeability compared between hemp and a fibreglass equivalent material: ELTM1208/Rovicore 300(D3) • 1-D infusion tests performed • Darcy’s Law used to assess materials: • CIC09-H750 permeability was much lower meaning a longer manufacturing time required ACHIEVEMENTS

11. Battery Door Fabrication Trials • RTM Lite resin infusion process was selected • Foam insert included to add stiffness to the door (similar to current geometry • Hemp mat conformed well to the shape • Two vinyl ester/DCPD blend resins were evaluated: • AOC’s Hydropel - poor surface quality finish • CCP’s IVSXH - yielded better cosmetic results ACHIEVEMENTS

12. Battery Door Fabrication • RTM lite process: • Materials placed in mold • Sealed with a semi-rigid cover • Vacuum applied to clamp cover and mold evacuated • Resin allowed to flow in mold via vacuum – extended infusion time • Two hemp fibre battery doors were successfully manufactured using IVSXH resin • One was installed on an MCI engineering test bus ACHIEVEMENTS

13. Mechanical Testing: tension (ASTM D 638) and flexure (ASTM D790) • Flammability Testing: ASTM E162 • Bi-thermal loading • Laminates consisted of hemp fibre and hybrid hemp and fibreglass reinforcements; fire retardant additive included Battery Door Test Program ACHIEVEMENTS

14. Hemp fibre only laminates: • Similar mechanical performance • Lower strength compared with baseline • Hybrid fibre laminates: • Significant increase in strength and moderately improved modulus • Maximum strength for laminate #5 - ELTM1208 (#5) Battery Door Mechanical Testing ACHIEVEMENTS

15. Radiant panel index Is used as an indicator of heat generation and surface flame spread speed: not to exceed 35 • Hemp only laminate (with fire retardant) achieved the fire resistance level similar to baseline but did not pass allowable limit • Hybrid fibre laminates (with fire retardant) met the requirement Battery Door Flammability Testing ACHIEVEMENTS

16. Battery Door Bithermal Testing • Test developed to simulate temperature difference between interior and exterior surfaces • Test rig designed and manufactured • The thermal displacements measured on following specimens ACHIEVEMENTS

17. Battery Door Bithermal Testing • Hemp fibre only reinforced sandwich specimen (S2) displayed greater displacement than baseline • All hybrid fibre reinforced sandwich specimens displayed less displacement than the baseline • No permanent displacement occurred following the testing Thermal Displacement at Specimen Centre ACHIEVEMENTS

18. Side Wall Fabrication • Exterior side wall produced – large structure demonstration Side Wall Manufacturing Trials Side Wall Fabrication ACHIEVEMENTS

19. Mechanical Testing: tension (ASTM D 638), flexure (ASTM D790) and shear (ASTM D7078) • Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (ASTME831) • Thermal Fatigue Assessment – thermal loading induced from bus structure/attachment method • Laminates consisted of hemp fibre and hybrid hemp and fibreglass reinforcements Side Wall Test Program ACHIEVEMENTS

20. Hemp fibre only laminates: • Reduced strength and modulus compared with all laminates • Hybrid fibre laminates: • Similar strength and modulus – laminates B1 and F1 Side Wall Mechanical Testing - Tension ACHIEVEMENTS

21. Hemp fibre only laminates: • Reduced flexure and shear strength • Flexure modulus lower than baseline, shear modulus similar • Hybrid fibre laminates: • Flexure strength slightly lower, shear similar • Modulus similar or greater than baseline – flexure and shear Side Wall Mechanical Testing – Flexure and Shear ACHIEVEMENTS

22. Side Wall Testing – Coefficient of Thermal Expansion • Results indicated that the hemp laminate exhibited a similar CTE to the Rovicore material ACHIEVEMENTS

23. Side Wall Testing – Thermal Fatigue • Thermal fatigue loading, determined from finite element analysis, was applied to side wall sections • 30,000 cycles without failure FEA: Force and Displacement Results Fatigue Testing Side Wall Assembly Method ACHIEVEMENTS

24. Hemp mat was successfully demonstrated as a material that can be used to fabricate composite bus parts • Mechanical properties did not meet the bus requirements and were below those of conventional fibreglass reinforcements • Hybrid materials consisting of hemp and fibreglass reinforcements met or exceeded conventional laminate properties • Recommend that hybrid laminates be initially pursued for bus part applications • Further work is required to develop natural fibre mats with equivalent properties CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS