Projektet pågick mellan september 2017 och oktober 2021.
Delprojektet Personifierade produkter och tjänster var en del av innovationsprojektet Biokompositer. Visionen för projektet var att göra det möjligt för Sverige att bli världsledande inom övergången från fossilbaserad ekonomi till biobaserad. Detta projekt avsåg att utveckla personliga produkter och tjänster kring accessoarer och protesprodukter som kommer i kontakt med huden, ett område där personifiering, innovativa produkter och utökade funktioner är mycket efterlängtade. CNF-baserade (cellulosa nanofibriller) kompositer som är starka och lättviktiga skulle kombineras med ”additive manufacturing” (AM), vilket skulle möjliggöra högt förädlade produkter och tjänster.
Nya skogsbaserade värdekedjor skulle skapas, vilket skulle leda till högt förädlade produkter och tjänster. Det förväntades att upp till 50% av de termoplaster som används i respektive produktsegment skulle kunna ersättas med CNF-baserade material. Demonstratorer med komplicerad struktur och utökade funktioner, som är för svåra altetrantivt för dyra att tillverka med konventionella tekniker, skulle tillverkas. CNF-baserade (cellulosa nanofibriller) kompositer som är starka och lättviktiga skulle utvecklas samt tekniska lösningar för att 3D-printa (additive manufacturing) med kompositerna. Projektets konsortium bestod av olika aktörer längs värdekedjan, bland annat skog, kemikalier, 3D print, proteser, accessoarer, vård, märkesägare och återvinning företag.
Deltagare
Addema AB, Embreis AB, Fillauer Furope, H&M, Holmen AB, LL-Bolagen AB, Ortopedteknik i Örebros län, Perstorp AB.
Budget
Projektets budget var 11 835 000 SEK.
Förväntade resultat
Sverige har en unik position inom skogsbaserad ekonomi tack vare sina stora innehav av jungfrufibrer. Tekniska lösningar och affärsmodeller som möjliggör avancerade och högt förädlade produkter och tjänster behövs för att omvandla den unika möjligheten till ekonomiska fördelar och för att uppnå en långsiktig socioekonomisk hållbarhet.
Resterande presentation av projektet kommer att vara på engelska, då delar av projektets forskarteam är engelskspråkiga.
Projektets bidrag till en biobaserad samhällsekonomi
Bio-based Economy and Circular Economy are two of initiatives launched by the EU commission (http://www.biobasedeconomy.eu/policy/, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/circular-economy/index_en.htm). These are the strong declaration of intent from the community and the EU Commission to reduce fossil dependency and to promote and accelerate innovations which lead to a transition from fossil-based economy towards a more sustainable bioeconomy. However, an important prerequisite for the transition from fossil-based to bio-based materials is that the products / services are attractive to consumers from a holistic perspective rather than price or sustainability characteristics alone. Bio-based products often meet the challenge of being more expensive than similar fossil-based products. It is therefore important to offer functionalities and added value that attracts customers and industrial actors. The idea of the project was to establish collaboration along the entire value chain to create personalized products and services by combing bio-composites with AM techniques that minimize material waste (cost), reduces the needs for manual adjustment, and shorten lead-time.
The objective of this project was to develop systematic solutions that enable the transition from a fossil-based to a bio-based economy. This was achieved on one hand by replacing fossil materials with bio-composites and on the other hand by making additive manufacturing (AM) a production technique that significantly reduces material waste and energy consumption. This project contributes to three of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Goal 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth, especially sub-goals 8.2 Promoting economic productivity through technical innovation and upgrading and 8.4 Improving resource efficiency in consumption and production.
- Goal 9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, especially sub-goal 9.5 Increase research initiatives and technical capacity in the industry sector.
- Goal 12 sustainable consumption and production, especially sub-goal 12.2 Sustainable management and use of natural resources.
Konkreta resultat och leverabler
Seven materials compositions from different bio-origins, wood, plant, and bacteria, were evaluated/developed, and their mechanical properties and 3D printability documented. Two 3D printing techniques, FDM and SLS, have been utilized for testing the materials and creating the demonstrators. Technical know-how on FDM and SLS technologies have been extended regarding 3D printing of materials having different portion (wt %) of wood additives in either fiber or powder form. Convertibility and 3D printability of these materials with these 3D printing techniques have been evaluated. Four demonstrators, two prosthetic / orthotic devices (sandal and bath prosthesis) and two accessories (shoes and sunglasses), have been created by the 3D printing techniques. The project resulted in three journal articles and two conference presentations, two reports on social media, and one master thesis.
Resultatens effekter och potential
The project has led to four demonstrators of personalized products using biobased materials and AM techniques, which can be regarded as the first step in a commercialization of the products. Some of the demonstrators, e.g. the sunglass and bath prosthesis, were considered to have definite potential to be commercialized in 2-5 years. According to the experts whose have long term experiences in the respective industry sectors, the project not only demonstrated the feasibility of the concept of working (personalized products and services) but also demonstrated advantages over the existing solutions, e.g., simplified production paradigm from design to production, reduced materials waste and energy consumption and on-demand production, and shorter lead-time.
The understanding obtained from market surveys on customer’s view and purchase behavior with regards to materials origin (environmental concern) and product quality and service vs. purchase price will be important inputs for future product and business model development. The companies of the project consortium are members in different (existing) value chains. This project created possibility for them to form new value chain(s) using bio-composites and 3D printing technologies that enable new and personalized product and service.
Samhälleliga förutsättningar
The transition from fossil economy to bioeconomy is unlikely to be easy or smooth, understanding and support from the society are crucial. Another important factor is guidance and regulation from politic and regulation bodies. In this project, two user surveys were conducted led by Ortopedteknik in Örebro and H&M, respectively. Generally speaking, there is a strong public support for a such transition. However, besides the environment aspect, product quality and price are also important factors for the purchase decision.
Extern synlighet
Below is a list of the peer-reviewed articles, conference reports / presentation, invited talk, master thesis, and articles published by branch organizations and society media etc.
1) E. Stenvall et al, Additive Manufacturing of Prostheses Using Forest-Based Composites, BioEngineering 7 (2020): 103. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering7030103.
2) A. Lindberg, et al, Mechanical performance of polymer powder bed fused objects – FEM simulation and verification, Additive Manufacturing, 24 (2018), pp. 577-586.
3) G. Flodberg, H. Pettersson, L. Yang, Pore analysis and mechanical performance of selective laser sintered objects, Additive Manufacturing, 24 (2018) 307–315.
4) L. Yang et al, Influence of some material properties on quality of selective laser sintering (SLS) built objects, IARIGAI Intl Conf., Aten, Greece, Sep. 18-22, 2021.
5) L. Yang, Bio-composites for 3D printing, Seminariet ”plast- och kompositmaterial i medicintekniska tillämpningar”, Oct. 2, 2019, Jonköping.
6) A. Lindberg, Mechanical performance of 3D printed objects, Master thesis in Mechanical Engineering, May, 2018, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm.
7) Skogsindustrierna published a report about the project on its web site and in SPCI’s magazine, 2020;
8) Li Yang et al, Influence of material properties on quality of SLS built objects, presentation on the IARIGAI conference in Aten Greece, Sep. 2021.
9) Li Yang et al, 3D utskrivna proteser baserade på skogens råvaror, presentation at BioInnovation annual Conferences, Jan. 17, 2019, Göteborg.
10) Presentation at Seminariet ”plast- och kompositmaterial i medicintekniska tillämpningar”, Oct. 2, 2019, Jonköping.
11) Invited talk on 3D printing at Linköping University, Mar. 7, 2020.
Nästa steg
There is one newly approved Vinnova project for developments of a brand-new 3D printing technology that eliminates limitations of the existing multiple materials 3D printing technologies. The project budget is 6625 ksek. The goal of the proposed project is to enable 3D printing as the mainstream technology of industrial manufacturing. On the other hand, there are continuing discussions between the project partners on further development of the demonstrators and the technological solutions. It is expected a few new products based on the demonstrators can be launched in 2-5 years’ time.