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The article provides an overview of biocomposite application in the automotives via a documentation of their history, chronology and progressive steps taken to break into the production lines of a number of key auto makers. It offers a detailed analysis of the key factors that have motivated the research and subsequent adoption of biocomposites; taking a peek at the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges experienced in the process. Auto makers and parts suppliers that have been a force behind this campaign, have also been accorded a fair share in the article. Future projection of role of these materials in the industry; with the ideas well dressed in form of bio concept cars caps up the paper. Automotive refers to; passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, trucks, buses, and recreational vehicles. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:2553–2569, 2017. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers

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Preforming technology has emerged as core to the manufacture of engineering composites with enhanced properties at reduced production costs. Textile technologies such as weaving, knitting, braiding, stitching and nonwoven individually or in combination have been utilized in the design and manufacture of 1D, 2D, and 3D preforms boasting increasingly complex architectures. Current research appears to be geared towards reducing the occurrence of delamination as well as improving out-of-plane impact properties by through-the-thickness reinforcement. Utilization of improved impregnation techniques has played a vital role in the processing of preforms for the aerospace, automotive, marine and other advanced engineering applications. The current and previous research on preforms as well as the techniques used in their manufacture has been reviewed in this article and future emerging trends highlighted.

This paper reports the responses of basalt unsaturated polyester laminates under static three-point bending loading and low-velocity impact. Three kinds of composite materials, unidirectional (0 ), cross-ply (0 /90 ) and woven laminates were considered. The laminates were fabricated by layup process and hot pressed under pressure. Static three-point bending tests and low-velocity impact tests were conducted to obtain the force-deflection, force-time, deflection-time, velocitytime, and energy-time curves. The results showed that unidirectional (0 ) laminates carried more load during static loading, but in the event of dynamic loading, cross-ply, and woven laminates were more superior. It was observed that the failure of 0 laminates was along the fiber direction while for cross-ply and woven, the damage was localized, around the impacted locations. From the different combinations of unidirectional (0 ), cross-ply (0 /90 ) and woven lamina, the impact behaviors could be optimized with the lowest area density. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:2203-2213, 2014

Due to environmental and energy conservation concerns, a thrust towards low-cost lightweight materials has resulted in renewed interest in the development of sustainable materials that can replace nonbiodegradable and environmentally unfriendly materials in reinforced composites. In this study, mechanical properties of a hybrid composite consisting of polyester resin reinforced with a blend of sisal and cattail fibres were evaluated. The composite was fabricated using a hand lay-up technique at varying hybrid fibre weight fractions (5 to 25 wt%) while maintaining a constant fibre blend ratio of 50/50. Composites were also prepared at a constant fibre weight fraction of 20% while varying the fibre blend ratio between 0 and 100%. Fabricated composites were then characterised in terms of flexural, tensile, compressive, and impact strengths following ASTM and ISO standards. Results showed that, at a constant fibre blend ratio of 50/50, there was increase in the mechanical properties as the fibre weight fraction increased from 5 to 20%. At a constant fibre weight fraction (20%), a positive improvement in flexural, tensile, and compressive properties was registered as the fibre blend ratio varied between 0 and 75% with optimal values at a sisal/cattail ratio of 75/25. The current study suggests that blending sisal and cattail fibres for production of polyester composites yields hybrid composites with enhanced mechanical properties.

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