Environmentally Sustainable Bio-composites for Energy Absorbing Structures

With an ever-increasing focus on sustainability the environmental impact of the transport sector is under intense scrutiny. For the automotive sector the main response has been to develop efficient environmentally friendly propulsion systems including electric and hybrid vehicles combined with significant efforts to drastically reduce the mass of vehicle body structures.
Another recent but significant trend in the automotive sector is the intense development of Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs). A primary aim of introducing CAVs is to significantly reduce the number and severity of road traffic accidents.
These three factors (changes to propulsion system, light weighting and CAVs) enable a potential paradigm shift in automotive structures including design and materials used. The E-BEAS pilot study will critically assess the feasibility of adopting natural (environmentally sustainable) fibre-based composites to replace metallic structures for automotive crash applications.