LignoBraid

Biobased lightweight hollow profiles with braided wood tapes; Subproject 2: Lightweight hollow profiles

Lightweight construction is one of the key technologies for a resource-efficient economy. Particularly in the area of mobility and transportation, high levels of lightweight construction can result in considerable energy and CO₂ savings. The binding of CO₂ through the use of natural materials also contributes to the goals of a wood-based bioeconomy.
In this context, a novel process chain for the production of hollow profiles from wood veneer was developed and implemented on a laboratory scale at TU Dresden (Professorship of Wood Technology and Fibre Materials Engineering as well as Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology). The LIGNOBRAID project begins with the preparation of the raw material. The raw material wood should largely retain its natural cohesion and still enable high-quality technical use.
For this purpose, continuous veneer strips are further processed into load-path-compatible preforms using a braiding process. These can then be processed into hollow structures by infiltration with bio-based plastics. The automated braiding technology for the veneer tapes was adapted and new braiding bobbins were designed. Comprehensive process studies were used to develop suitable processing windows for both the braiding and infiltration processes. By characterizing the individual components, the composite material could be described in terms of structural mechanics and models for the numerical simulation of the composite could be developed. Good agreement was achieved between numerical simulation and experimental tests. At the end of the sub-project, the technical, ecological and economic evaluation of the process chain is based on the veneer-plastic hollow profiles. The knowledge gained will enable and promote the future use of resource-saving production processes for innovative composite materials.