Alternative Composite Material for Replacement of Fiberglass Laminates Used in the Manufacture of Car Body Vehicle Prototypes 2011-36-0160

Development of alternative composite material with matrix and fiber phases of plant roots as a sustainable alternative to commonly used fiberglass laminates are widely used in the manufacture of car body vehicle prototypes. The goal is to replace the composites using glass fiber as fiber phase and commonly used epoxy or polyester resin as the matrix phase due to its handling problems, which can cause respiratory illnesses, allergies, contamination of workplace and environmental pollution after its disposal in nature. The composite developed uses jute fiber as phase-shaped screen and a resin derived from castor plant origin as the matrix phase. The results were enough to replace the laminated fiberglass. We came to an experimental result of a magnitude of flexural strength of five times lower, compared with a laminate of fiberglass, as calculated and serves referred to requests for non-structural body of a prototype vehicle for the rally.