Issue 04/2016

Materials
there will be developments in each step of the process:
incorporation of additives via melt compounding, filament
melt spinning of additive incorporated low and high
melting point PLA grades, commingling of PLA filaments
with variable melting points, weaving commingled PLA
yarns and consolidation via hot pressing process to
produce composites.
The Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University
(ITA) will contribute to the project in the development of
composite intermediates. ITA will develop a process to
combine the filament yarns with low and high melting
point (for matrix and reinforcement respectively) by a
commingling nozzle. The commingling nozzle has one or
more additional openings in cross direction to the yarn
path, through which compressed air passes into the yarn
path. The compressed air creates turbulences that mix
the filaments of both components to produce a hybrid
yarn. Furthermore, a weaving process for these yarns will
be developed. Composite test specimens will be produced
using hot pressing of the woven specimen and will be
tested for its mechanical properties.
The BIO4SELF consortium is strongly industry driven,
including five large enterprises and five SMEs. These
are completed with three universities and three research
centres. This way BIO4SELF covers all required expertise
and infrastructure from academic, applied research and
industry from 10 different EU countries.
Acknowledgement
BIO4SELF is an H2020 project, meaning that it is cofunded
by the European Union (grant of EUR 6.8 million).
It will last 40 months and started on March 1 st , 2016. It is
coordinated by Centexbel, the Belgian research centre for
textiles and plastics.
www.ita.rwth-aachen.de
www.centexbel.be
www.maastrichtuniversity.nl
Figure 1: Advantages of yarn based approach for the production of self-reinforced PLA composites
Compounding Melt spinning Commingling Weaving Consolidation
Advantages of yarn based
thermoplastic composites
Advantages of
self reinforced PLA composites
• High stiffness and strength at
low weight
• Use of various textile fabrics possible
• Multiple possibilities of function
intregration on fibre level
• Lower melt flow paths of matrix
polymer compared to film stacking
• Excellent impact properties
• Lower density than glass or
carbon fibre reinforced materials
• High recyclability
• No use of fossil-based polymers
bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/16] Vol. 11 37