Development of eco-efficient bio-based carbon fibre laminates for structural strengthening and rehabilitation – BioLam

POCI-01-0247-FEDER-039769 LISBOA 01-0247-FEDER-039769

Funded by Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa (PORLisboa), Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) through COMPETE – Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade (POFC), in the scope of PT2020

Partners Clever Reinforcement Ibérica Lda., IST
Total funding € 922,004.04
Period 2020-2023
Project leadership Filipe Dourado (PI, Clever Reinforcement Ibérica Lda.), João Ramôa Correia, João Bordado (CERENA, IST), Mário Garrido

Summary

The BioLam project aims to develop a bio-based polymer resin system for the replacement of the current petroleum oil-based resins and its application it in the development of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates for structural strengthening in Civil Engineering, with comparable structural performance to the existing solutions, less expensive, better fire behaviour and superior environmental sustainability.

The development of the bio-resins will follow two approaches, namely the production of phenolic resins from liquefied wood, and the production of unsaturated thermoset resins, of the vinyl ester type, from other bio-based sustainable feedstock not in competition with food resources. The suitability of the bio-resins for production of CFRP laminates using a pultrusion process will be evaluated, optimizing the polymer structures and the processing characteristics of the resins for their implementation in the production of pultruded bio-laminates, and ensuring their compatibility with the carbon fibre reinforcement. In a first stage, the development of bio-resins and bio-laminates will be carried out in a laboratory environment, being subsequently implemented in pilot productions in an industrial setting. The performance of the bio-laminates in structural strengthening applications will be experimentally assessed in the laboratory and in a pilot installation, within the scope of a rehabilitation work. The project is led by the company S&P – Clever Reinforcement Ibérica Lda., market leader in structural strengthening with CFRP laminates and their production by pultrusion, in consortium with Instituto Superior Técnico, through its research units CERIS and CERENA, specialized in the development and implementation of fibre reinforced polymer composite material solutions and the synthesis and processing of polymers.

PhD Theses

Mateus de Assunção Hofmann, “Sustainable bio-based resins and fibre-polymer composites for civil engineering structural applications”, IST, 2022.

Marina Machado Leal dos Santos, “Development of eco-efficient bio-based carbon fibre laminates for structural strengthening and rehabilitation “, IST, ongoing.

MSc Dissertations

Ana Carolina Lopez, “Durability of bio-based CFRP reinforcement strips”, IST, ongoing.