Duroplast is a composite thermosetting

resin A resin is a solid or highly viscous liquid that can be converted into a polymer. Resins may be biological or synthetic in origin, but are typically harvested from plants. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds, predominantly terpenes. Commo ...

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

developed by engineer Wolfgang Barthel in 1953 in the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. Its production method places it in a similar family as

Formica ''Formica'' is a genus of ants of the subfamily Formicinae, including species commonly known as wood ants, mound ants, thatching ants, and field ants. ''Formica'' is the type genus of the Formicidae, and of the subfamily Formicinae. The type ...

and

Bakelite Bakelite ( ), formally , is a thermosetting polymer, thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed by Belgian chemist ...

. It is reinforced with fibers (typically waste fabrics from the garment industry) making it a fiber-reinforced plastic similar to

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

Use and composition

The German Democratic Republic regularly encountered shortages of steel and had little to no iron reserves of their own. As a result, state-owned automobile manufacturer VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau instead used Duroplast to produce the body shell of the

Trabant Trabant () is a series of B-segment, small cars produced from 1957 until 1991 by former East Germany, East German car manufacturer HQM Sachsenring GmbH, VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau. Four models were made: the Trabant P 50, Trabant 50 ...

. Production lasted from 1955 until just after

German Reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

in 1991. A light, yet strong material, Duroplast is made of recycled material:

phenol Phenol (also known as carbolic acid, phenolic acid, or benzenol) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile and can catch fire. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () ...

resins and

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

waste fiber reinforcement. Because it is formed in a press, it is more easily applied to volume car production than fiberglass.

Disposal

Duroplast is difficult to dispose of responsibly, a similar problem encountered with fiberglass. As discarded Trabants began to fill junkyards after 1991, creative solutions were devised for recycling them. One was developed by a Berlin biotechnology company, which experimented with bacteria to consume the body in twenty days. Urban legends, depicted in the movie '' Black Cat, White Cat'' and described in a song by the

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n band

Atheist Rap Atheist Rap is a Serbian punk rock band from Novi Sad, formed in 1989, which has released six studio albums, one compilation album and one live DVD. Their music is often characterized as "fun punk" due to its cheerful music and vocals. Their lyr ...

, described recycling Duroplast by feeding the cars to pigs, sheep and other farm animals. In the late 1990s, Sachsenring's developed a disposal solution in which the body shells were shredded and used as an aggregate in cement blocks for pavement construction. This was featured in an episode of the program '' Scientific American Frontiers'' on the American PBS TV channel.

Public perception

The use of Duroplast in Trabants and subsequent GDR jokes and mockery in western auto magazines such as ''

Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published in 1955. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased it from its prior owner Hachette Fi ...

'' gave rise to an urban myth that the Trabant is made of corrugated cardboard.Tony Davis (2005) "

Lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

!: Sixty Heroic Automotive Failures",
Chapter "Trabant P601, p.156-158
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References

{{Authority control Composite materials German inventions Thermosetting plastics Fibre-reinforced polymers Cotton Products introduced in 1953 Science and technology in East Germany 1953 in East Germany