Textile Design Experiments for Automotive innovation

New artificial fibers evolve through cutting-edge technologies, they represent the intersection among technology, materials and project in the automotive sector. The composites reinforced with natural fibers (FN), called eco-composites, are materials that affect many scientific research projects and the economic exploitation opens new ways for applications in new business areas. The key element for the development of these materials is the compatibility of processing with the industrial technologies used for the production of traditional composites. In this area, an important growth is planned in terms of productivity and industrial via- bility in the coming years. The growing scientific and industrial interest in composites reinforced with natural fibers is due to their high performances in terms of mechanical properties, good processing properties, chemical resistance and the low ratio between cost and density. The main limit to the diffusion of eco-composites reinforced with natural fibers is not so much the mechanical performance, which in some cases is comparable if not superior to the composites currently used, but due to the costs of the materials, and in par- ticular to the high cost of polymer matrices obtained from renewable and/or biodegradable sources. The design idea for the experimental research activity has been directed to the production of a multi-layered, eco-sustainable material, flexible as a fabric and characterized by properties suitable for the possible applications in replacement of bodywork ele- ments. The material has been designed to have excellent thermal-acoustic insulation properties, essential for high-value added ap- plications in the automotive industry. On the basis of the results obtained, a preparatory method was developed for the production of some samples of multilayer pro- totypes.