duroplast

Duroplast is a composite thermosetting resin plastic developed by engineer Wolfgang Barthel in 1953 in the German Democratic Republic. Its production method places it in a similar family as Formica and Bakelite. It is reinforced with fibers (typically waste fabrics from the garment industry) making it a fiber-reinforced plastic similar to fiberglass.

==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. Production lasted from 1955 until just after German reunification in 1991. A light, yet strong material, Duroplast is made of recycled material: phenol resins and cotton waste fiber reinforcement. Because it is formed in a press, it is more easily applied to volume car production than fiberglass.