JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #87 - March 2014 Special JEC Europe - 76

sustainability

The first 100% jute reinforced biocomposite
sailboat, a prototype of importance for Bangladesh

After three years of research on jute fibre, the Gold of Bengal association presents its first sailboat made of 100% jute
reinforced biocomposite. The association's research led to
an innovation that has economic, social and environmental
potential for Bangladesh. The boat - a kind of giant test specimen for this material - came out of its first six months of
navigation in warm waters with flying colours. An experience
full of promise for the future!

Julie de Mony-Pajol, Head of development
Corentin de Chatelperron, President,
Guillemette Cail, Process engineer
Gold of Bengal
Tab. 1: The range of available reinforcements

he Gold of Bengal association has
been doing research in Bangladesh on
the use of a new composite material
reinforced with jute fibre. The material is
attractive for economic, environmental and
social reasons, and would help to give a new
life to the declining jute industry.
To determine the interest of the material

for Bangladesh and arrange for its commercialization, Gold of Bengal studied all
aspects of developing the innovation. The
research focused on the material along with
its manufacturing process, and also on the
project's economic and social impact. In
parallel, the young engineers involved in this
bold project made furniture and surfboard
prototypes in order to test and present the
material to the public. In February 2013, the
project went even further by building Gold
of Bengal, the first jute composite boat ever
made.

The first 100% jute reinforced composite sailboat

Fig. 1: Launching Gold of Bengal with Marc Van
Peteghem

The innovation focused on the use of
jute fibre as structural reinforcement for
a composite material, to replace and/or
supplement glass fibre. The matrix used for
the reinforcement is a polyester resin (the
only one currently available in Bangladesh).
The "Pàt", as it is called, is the first technical
jute fibre reinforcement to be designed for
composite applications. Research into the
boatbuilding field made it possible to op-

76 jec composites magazine / No87 March 2014

Reinforcement type

Weight

Unidirectional

250 g/m2

Biaxial 0°/90° or -45°/45°

500 g/m2

Triaxial

750 g/m2

timize the mechanical, environmental and
economic properties of the final composite.

Optimized mechanical
properties
The three years of research led to the development of an extended line of reinforcements. To obtain the best possible mechanical performance, the fibre organization
within the reinforcement was optimized.
The fibres in this reinforcement are neither
woven nor twisted as in standard gunny fabric, and this increases the mechanical properties by 250%. A caustic soda treatment
gives the best quality/availability/price ratio
in Bangladesh, and boosts the composite's
performance, e.g. fibre content by 20%,
maximum flexural stress by 140%, and the
bending failure moment by 24%. The price

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #87 - March 2014 Special JEC Europe

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #87 - March 2014 Special JEC Europe