Cambridge, March 2005

Granta CES Web Software Helps Promote Natural Fibre Eco-Materials

Dr Stefan Seeger of the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung - BAM) tells of his successful experience using Granta’s CES software to make an eco-materials knowledge resource for automotive, construction, and other industries in the Berlin region.

The German initiative RIO (Regionales Innovationsbündnis Oberhavel e.V., Regional Innovation Alliance) recently started the test run of their new internet resource my-ensemble.net. Alongside other service tools tailored to the needs of small and medium size enterprises in the natural fibres field, my-ensemble.net contains a comprehensive database on natural fibre materials, technologies and products, based on the Granta CES Web software.

The main aim of my-ensemble.net is to facilitate the cooperation and interaction of producers, processors, further processors, product designers and consumers in the field of renewable materials, especially those made of natural fibres like hemp and flax.

What is so special about hemp and flax? Hemp and flax are promising crops for a sustainable agriculture and also promising renewable resources for a variety of goods and applications. Materials made from hemp and flax have applications in the automotive industry (indoor trim of cars, vehicle construction parts), in the construction industry (thermal and acoustic insulation) and other sectors such as furniture and domestic appliance industries.

One obstacle to the success of these materials has been the lack of available information concerning their properties and uses. Unlike most common basic materials, including metals and alloys, plastics and concrete, natural fibres as agricultural products show unavoidable constitutional variations of their properties which affect final product properties and so ultimate product acceptance. This is often cited as a main handicap for a broader use of renewable materials. In many cases, however, the problem can be overcome if specific and sufficient materials knowledge can be made readily available.

Thus, one and a half years ago the working group Fibres and Fibre Products in Department IV Environmental Compatibility of Materials of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung – BAM) started the formulation of a comprehensive knowledge base for hemp and flax in cooperation with other partners from RIO. In order to overcome gaps in knowledge that potential customers might have, we developed the idea of “comprehensive information from one source”. The term comprehensive in this context stresses the fact that this database on natural fibre materials should comprise information on farming and harvesting of plants as well as on processing details of raw materials and semi-finished products, on construction and design of finished products, and finally on quality control and test methods.

We did not simply collect these very inhomogeneous pieces of information, consisting of descriptive texts, numerical characteristics like range or point values, graphics, and tables. Instead, we analyzed many sources, combined information from different sources, and finally included in the database all these very incomparable items such as information on crops and their quality, fibre properties, raw materials, additives, finished products, and processing and manufacturing methods . We also included a survey of test methods, which have been developed in our working group and elsewhere.

The flexibility of the Granta CES software was crucial for our problems of database construction under these difficult conditions. The software imposed only a few restrictions concerning the layout and definition of database modules. As users, we were given plenty of scope for layout, data filters, selection of variables, and linking of records. It was easy to use the software as a database construction kit for our own purposes. Last but not least, the compilation and installation of the web part of our knowledge base on a separate computer with Granta’s CES Web was nearly trouble-free.

Now, even the inexperienced user of my-ensemble.net, may find information in our database with the intuitive built-in selector tools. These tools comprise context related search (table tree), keyword based search (text search), or limit selection and functional data plots. The combination of these tools proves to be effective for the investigation of text information as well as for the investigation of material properties and values.

In conclusion, Granta’s CES and CES Web are – with respect to their complexity – versatile and valuable instruments for the creation, maintenance and publication of our knowledge base. Complementing our own hard work, Granta’s CES has given our new Internet resource, my-ensemble.net, every chance of success.

	Interior lining (interior trim part) for a car door
Hemp fibres after fiber processing of hemp crops

The new database is currently in testing and is scheduled to go live next year. Further information:
· About the new database: info@rio-ev.de and my-ensemble.net.
· About the work of BAM and RIO: www.bam.de/english and www.rio-ev.de
· About CES Web software: info@grantadesign.com