Swiss sustainable lightweighting company Bcomp and Tier 1 supplier Eberspächer, have developed bus A/C covers using Bcomp’s natural flax fibre composite technology. The Fribourg based company says it is a bold push towards the use of more sustainable materials in mass transport applications and closely follows Bcomp’s successful entry into large-scale production of automotive interior parts. The new composite part was recently exhibited at Busworld Europe 2023.

Eberspächer manufactured innovative prototype panels using Bcomp’s ampliTex technical fabric, intending to gauge interest among Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). The composite panels use a vynilester resin infusion with an in-mould transparent gelcoat finish, which means that the interesting weave of the flax-based ampliTex is visible. The sustainable natural fibre materials used to produce the prototypes will be the same ones that go into the production covers for Eberspächer customers.

If any OEMs or end customer express interest during or after the Busworld event, a rigorous trial phase will follow. Some of the panels will be installed in buses operating in diverse environmental conditions ranging from the extreme climates in winter and summer. Successful performance evaluations will then pave the way for series approval and full-scale manufacturing.

The collaboration was initiated by an Eberspächer student proof-of-concept project from the Technical School for Wood Technology in Stuttgart, Germany. The challenge was to find an environmentally responsible alternative to glass-fibre-reinforced plastic for bus A/C covers. Flax-based natural fibre composites emerged as the preferred material, of which Bcomp is a global leader.

ampliTex is a proprietary technical fabric, made from European-grown flax plants, that is frequently used as a sustainable alternative to carbon fibre and fibreglass. It has been well-proven in body panels for demanding motorsport applications and is quickly finding its way into mass-produced road cars where it can already be found as an optional interior material on the new Volvo Cars EX30. It harnesses the natural properties of flax to produce lightweight high-performance parts with a unique aesthetic, defined by natural beauty.

Depending on the application, the renewable material solutions achieve similar or superior stiffness and weight compared to carbon or glass fibre while heavily cutting CO2 emissions.

Paolo Dassi, Marine and Industry Manager at Bcomp, commented: “This project with Eberspächer marks an exciting new chapter in our journey. Mass transport applications like this innovative bus A/C cover reinforce our technologies’ potential to replace conventional materials at scale. It also signals our continued growth and expansion into critical markets. As industries increasingly seek out sustainable materials, we are ready to meet the demand with our flax-based composites that offer lightweighting performance without environmental compromise.”

www.bcomp.ch

www.eberspaecher.com