At first glance, using wood to protect electric car batteries may seem hazardous. And yet, this is exactly what researchers at the Technical University of Graz, Austria, in the context of the organic project! Lib. The team developed a box combining a thin layer of steel and a wooden heart.
A hybrid housing that absorbs shocks
The choice of these materials is not just an ecological fad: the objective was also to improve performance in the event of a shock. “” Steel skin is welded directly in the presence of the wooden nucleus“Explains Florian Feist, manager of the study. This nucleus, composed of tiny cells, crashes under pressure, absorbing a large amount of energy during an impact. The researchers also added internal reinforcements and a cover in the same composite material, and they obtained impressive results in crash simulations.
During a very important test – the impact against a high -speed metallic pole – the organic box! Lib was as resistant as that of the Tesla Model S, yet made of aluminum.
On the thermal protection side, again, the researchers played the map of natural materials. To isolate the interior of the housing against extreme heat generated by a battery fire, they chose cork, a renewable material well known for its fire resistance.
Presentation at temperatures of more than 1,300 ° C, the cork is carbonized and forms a protective layer: ” Carbonization leads to a sharp drop in thermal conductivity, already low at the base, which protects the structures behind “, Specifies Florian Feist.
Result: during a pyrotechnic test simulating a battery fire, the organic box! Lib not only kept the shock, but it also kept the temperature on the other side about 100 ° C lower than that measured with a classic Tesla box!
Beyond physical performance, the Austrian prototype also scores points on the environmental level. A joint study with the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change has shown that the organic case! Lib has a lesser impact that its aluminum equivalents in almost all categories: energy consumption, water, and polluting emissions. Only the imprint linked to land use is slightly higher, due to the use of wood.
Next step for researchers: test the use of lower quality or recycled wood, and optimize the reuse of cork and overall recycling of the case.
By combining natural materials often considered incompatible with high technology, this project demonstrates that ecology and safety do not necessarily oppose. And even better: with performance superior to those of well -established solutions, this approach could change the way in which car manufacturers design their electric vehicles.
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