Abstract
Bioplastics are derived from the biological materials which are low dependence on the fossil fuel. They have a possibility of the promising plastics to reduce emissions of the carbon dioxide. Using the bioplastic for the interior components of railway vehicles, there is a high probability to reduce the environmental load. We have studied the basic physical characteristics (e.g. combustion, tensile strength, impact strength, weather-resistance and processability) of several commercial bioplastics and implemented performance tests using some bioplastic components of the railway vehicle. On basis of the result, we found the possibility to apply a bioplastic material as an alternative material to conventional polycarbonate components of the railway vehicle. The hand strap was selected for the performance test item. Bioplastic hand straps were tested and equipped with our commercial railway vehicle. No serious problems appeared during those tests. Some issues, the existence of some voids in the hand strap and the disappearance of texturing of the surface, are found. It is necessary to improve the bioplastic hand strap manufacturing process conditions to cope with them. A bioplastic material shows a potential to apply some interior components of the railway vehicle. This bioplastic material cost is higher than that of the conventional polycarbonate plastics at present. However, the application of this bioplastic material to the interior components of the railway vehicle is not particularly difficult if the cost issue is cleared.
