JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #87 - March 2014 Special JEC Europe - 77

therefore a new sector for development.
All of the project's beneficiaries are either
Bangladeshi families directly connected to
the jute industry (e.g. factory owners, workers, growers, traders, carriers), or people
who depend indirectly on this industry as
part of the local economy (housing, small
businesses, workshops, etc.). The innovation
also creates a link between the declining jute
industry and the very dynamic textile industry, opening the door to new prospects for
collaboration and modernization through
the repurposing of textile machines.
Gold of Bengal is working in partnership
with local manufacturers and has the support of the public authorities in charge of
upgrading the industry, like the Bangladesh
Jute Ministry.

Fig. 2: The jute reinforced biocomposite

of the laminate is decreased by 20%.
The team characterized the jute's mechanical
properties, seeking to match them as closely
as possible with those of glass. Thanks
to these mechanical properties, the jute
material is now a highly promising reinforcement in terms of strength and cost that can
supplement glass fibre or even replace it. As
a function of the application, it is possible
to compensate for the jute's lower mechanical strength (compared to glass) by adding
plies, without affecting the final weight. This
is due to the low fibre density, which actually
increases the composite's stiffness.
Fibre density: 1.44
Young's modulus (UD): 19.8 GPa
Maximum tensile stress (UD): 165 MPa

Economic and
environmental advantages
Industrial production of the jute fabric is
being set up in a partner factory, and should
make it possible to bring the cost to under

€2 per kg. Faced with increasing wood
prices, Bangladesh is turning to composite
materials, in particular for boat construction.
Glass fibre is still an expensive imported
material that has a certain environmental
impact on production. So in addition to its
economic and social advantages, the present
innovation proposes an environmentfriendly alternative.

Economic and social impact
Jute is the world's second most important
plant fibre crop, and for more than a century,
Bangladesh was the leading producer and
exporter of this raw material, used mostly to
make sacks and ropes. Due to competition
from synthetic materials and the inability to
modernize and diversify its products, this
industry has been gradually declining for
decades. However, it continues to directly
or indirectly involve some 40 million people
in Bangladesh. The innovation provides
a solution to this problem by proposing a
diversification of jute-based products, and

Good development prospects for
the innovation
To test the prototype in real-life conditions,
the Gold of Bengal sailed for six months
around the deserted islands in the Bay of
Bengal. The voyage served to test the material's resistance to things like UV ageing,
moisture regain, mechanical stresses and
impacts. At first view, the jute parts have
passed the test, although parts of the hull
now need to be examined to detect any
signs of ageing. The team has put together
an innovative reinforcement production
chain that requires very low investment and
is easily reproducible, since it uses the jute
industry's existing machines. In 2014, the
Gold of Bengal association would like to
train a local manufacturer towards selfsufficient production, so the country can get
the full benefit of the innovation's economic
and social effects. n

No87 March 2014 /

More information:
www.goldofbengal.com

jec composites magazine 77
http://www.goldofbengal.com http://www.dienes.net
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #87 - March 2014 Special JEC Europe

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