- Title: Dutch "biobridge" made from hemp and flax fibres
- Date: 18th January 2017
- Summary: EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS (DECEMBER 15, 2016) (REUTERS) WIDE OF BIO-BRIDGE VARIOUS CLOSE-UPS OF BIO-BRIDGE PANELS WIDE OF BIO-BRIDGE HANDS BELONGING TO ASSISTANT PROFESSOR RIJK BLOK, OF EINDHOVEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, HOLDING BIO-BRIDGE COMPOSITE MATERIAL CLOSE-UP OF HEMP AND FLAX AND BIO-BASED MATERIAL USED TO MAKE BRIDGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSISTANT PROFESSOR RIJK BLOK, OF EINDHOVEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SAYING: "The bridge you see behind me is a bio-composite bridge and it's made out of bio-composite material. So a composite is a resin and fibres, and the fibres are flex fibres and hemp fibres. So natural grown fibres. They are very strong and they can be used in a structural application, so this was our research - trying to find out can they be used in a structural load-bearing capacity, and this bridge is the proof of concept of that." VIEW OF WALK ACROSS BIO-BRIDGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSISTANT PROFESSOR RIJK BLOK, OF EINDHOVEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SAYING: "Actually it's the first bio-based bridge in the world, as far as we know. So it's fully bio-based in the sense that both the resin as the internal foam, which is PLA foam - also bio-based. And the fibres are also bio-based, so the whole of the materials that have been used are bio-based." VARIOUS OF RESEARCH TEAM MEMBERS WALKING ACROSS BIO-BRIDGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSISTANT PROFESSOR RIJK BLOK, OF EINDHOVEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SAYING: "What we do is around the shape of the bio-based foam that we used here the fibres are stuck more or less and you could say they are in a large bag and then through vacuum the resin is sucked into the fibres and then you end up with this material, this composite material." CLOSE-UPS OF HEMP AND FLAX AND BIO-BASED MATERIAL USED TO MAKE BRIDGE GEERT LUCKS, COMMON SENSE CO-FOUNDER AND PROJECT ENGINEER, CHECKING SENSOR TESTS ON COMPUTER, NEXT TO BRIDGE CLOSE-UP OF BIO-BRIDGE PANELS LUCKS' HANDS HOLDING SENSOR EMBEDDED FIBRE CLOSE-UP LUCKS SENSOR EMBEDDED FIBRE VARIOUS OF LUCKS SHOWING FIBRE TO PROFESSOR PATRICK TEUFFEL, EINDHOVEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROFESSOR PATRICK TEUFFEL, EINDHOVEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SAYING: "During the last year when we did the project we did a couple of tests in terms of understanding the strength and stiffness of the material, but these are short term tests. Now we've implemented sensors in the bridge to understand the long term behaviour in terms of strain and dependency of temperature, moisture, UV light etc." VARIOUS OF FEMALE RESEARCHER JUMPING ON BRIDGE LUCKS EXAMINING SENSOR TEST RESULTS IN REAL TIME ON COMPUTER CLOSE-UP OF COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWING SENSOR TEST RESULTS WIDE OF RESEARCHER JUMPING ON BRIDGE, WITH COMPUTER SCREEN ON SIDE (SOUNDBITE) (English) GEERT LUCKS, COMMON SENSE CO-FOUNDER AND PROJECT ENGINEER, SAYING: "What we do is we have a scanner which sends in light via the optical fibre and what we get back is light which is reflected on the sensor point. We use that to measure the deformation of bridges, water locks, foundations of wind turbines; and the nice thing about it is that it's that small that we can embed it inside the material, so it's really part of the material, making the material kind of a so-called 'smart structure', an intelligent structure." VARIOUS OF STRESS TESTS OF BIOCOMPOSITE MATERIALS INSIDE LABORATORY (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROFESSOR PATRICK TEUFFEL, EINDHOVEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SAYING: "The main goal was to have a kind of proof of concept. Of course there are many ideas and concepts etc about the use of bio-based materials, but of course we want to show that it is really applicable in the real world, real big-scale application. This is just the first step and we try to continue in collaboration with our partners here - academic partners but also industry partners - to develop this further and see what other possibilities are there in the build environment." VARIOUS WIDES OF BIO-BRIDGE
- Embargoed: 1st February 2017 13:04
- Keywords: biobridge Eindhoven University of Technology TU/e Delft University of Technology TU Delft bridge
- Location: EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS
- City: EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Topics: Science
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ZLZ9LN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: What's been billed as the world's first fully biocomposite footbridge is undergoing tests at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), with Dutch scientists hoping the 14-metre long construction heralds a new era in environmental construction.
The biobridge was built by students from TU/e, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), and various regional vocational colleges, in conjunction with composite company NPSP. It was then assembled across a stream on TU/e's campus, where it is undergoing a year-long series of stress and strain tests.
Opened in October, the building of the bridge was overseen by assistant professor Rijk Blok. It uses fibres of hemp and flax, stuck to a biological polylactic acid (PLA) foam core.
"The bridge you see behind me is a bio-composite bridge and it's made out of bio-composite material," Blok told Reuters. "A composite is a combination of resin and fibres, and the fibres are flex fibres and hemp fibres. They are very strong and they can be used in a structural application."
He added: "Actually it's the first fully bio-based composite bridge in the world, as far as we know. The resin, the internal foam - which is PLA foam - and the fibres are all bio-based."
After the biocomposite was constructed, a bioresin was sucked into the fibre layers by vacuum infusion, producing a strong load-bearing girder when hardened.
"Around the shape of the bio-based foam that we used here the fibres are stuck and then through a vacuum the resin is sucked into the fibres and you end up with this composite material," explained Blok.
The bridge will be dismantled after one year, although researchers hope the testing process will establish whether such a structure could last for much longer periods.
Twenty eight sensors in the bridge will measure constantly the strain and bending that occurs when people walk, jump, or run on the structure. The data will be relayed to the project team in real-time.
According to Professor Patrick Teuffel, "over the last year we did a couple of tests in terms of understanding the strength and stiffness of the material, but these are short term tests. Now we've implemented sensors in the bridge to understand the long term behaviour in terms of strain and dependency of temperature, moisture, UV light etc."
Optical fibre containing the sensors, embedded into the biocomposite, was designed by commercial partners Common Sense. Its co-founder and project engineer Geert Lucks is overseeing testing.
"We have a scanner which sends in light via the optical fibre and what we get back is light which is reflected on the sensor point," said Lucks. "We use that to measure the deformation of bridges, water locks, foundations of wind turbines. The nice thing is that it's that small that we can embed it inside the material, so it's really part of the material, making the material kind of a so-called 'smart structure', an intelligent structure."
Lucks says monitoring of deformation in the bridge can be monitored by the sensors from afar, via internet connection, or on-site.
Although biomaterials have been used for construction before, researchers insist they have not yet been used to create load-bearing structures, whereas their bridge had to prove an ability to withstand a load of 500 kilograms per square metres in laboratory stress tests before building permission was granted.
Teuffel believes the project brings engineers closer to the so-called 'circular economy' in which products and resources are re-used.
"The main goal was to have a kind of proof of concept," he said. "Of course there are many ideas and concepts about the use of bio-based materials, but we want to show that it is really applicable in the real world. This is just the first step and we will try to continue in collaboration with our academic partners and industry partners to develop this further and see what other possibilities are there."
The bridge is the first tangible physical result of the 4TU Lighthouse research project and co-funded by Stichting Innovatie Alliantie (SIA), a group that brings universities and public institutions together to share knowledge. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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