Manufacturing of automotive interior components with renewable raw materials

The application of textiles in automobiles includes various textile structures, textile reinforced composites and multi-material systems. Currently, an average passenger car has up to 20 kg of textiles. A major deficit of the most popular fibres in automotive applications, PET, PP and glass, is that they are obtained from non-renewable re-sources and are extremely difficult to recycle. In comparison to these fibres, renewa-ble materials offer products with lower global warming potential, non-renewable en-ergy consumption and better recyclability. The aim of this work is to investigate the potential of renewable raw materials (natural fibres and bio-polymers) for application in automotive interiors. For this purpose, the existing fossil-based materials and alternative renewable raw materials are reviewed based on their properties and processing technologies used. Furthermore, the existing eco-design methodologies are reviewed critically. From the existing eco-design methods, a generalized methodology is derived. Fur-thermore, a plan for implementation of the generalized methodology for replacing existing materials with renewable materials is developed. The methodology has been verified on two different cases. First is the development of 100 % bio-based composites from natural fibres and PLA for application in door panels. The second case study is the development of 100 % PLA woven fabrics for application in seat covers. For both the cases a multi-criteria analysis is carried out of new products developed in comparison to the benchmark. Both the case studies show the potential of renew-able raw materials for use in automobile interiors. This work lays the foundation for the replacement of fossil based raw materials with renewable raw materials in the automobile sector.