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FP7 Collaborative research partner request
PARTNER REQUEST
BBS Ref : PS_2008_01_SCALE-FRP
Title : SCALE-FRP - A Highly Flexible Production Process for Aerostructures Components Consisting of Fibre Reinforced Thermoset Plastic
ABSTRACT:
Project initiator: Fraunhofer IFAM.
Aim of SCALE-FRP: development of a thermoset resin system and the adapted FRP-process, which covers the whole value-added chain starting at FRP part development, simulation of the manufacturing process, tooling design and the adapted infusion and curing process.
Applicable market: aeronautics industry. Industrial partners are welcome to joint the consortium.
DESCRIPTION:
Increase of fibre reinforced plastics (FRP) application has been identified as a key to light weight aircrafts and therefore to a more efficient usage of fuel. One technological obstacle for increased FRP usage is the "magic square" of current FRP production processes. The "magic square" is the interdependency of resin type (both thermoset and thermoplastic) and the resin specific production process (prepreg, infusion, transfer moulding, thermoforming etc.), which are linked to specific process cycle times respectivelly serial numbers and product properties. Due to this "magic square" a large variety of completelly different production processes have been developed. Covering the different required product properties and the different existing serial numbers requires tremendous investment in equipment and wide spread technological knowledge. A 2nd technological difficulty results from the fact that a optimum incorporation of reinforcement fibres requires low resin viscosity achieved by low molecular resins and/or high process temperatures - both causing high shrinkage, inner stresses and the risk of unacceptable distortion. The 3rd technological drawback is the currently limited predictibilty of the shrinkage and of the corellated effects. The shrinkage is affected mainly by the design of the FRP part, by process type, resin system, lay-up and process parameters. Due to this complex interaction the development of tooling and of process settings as well as their consideration in design of the FRP part is extremely expensive and time consuming. SCALE-FRP aims to overcome these limitations for an increased FRP application and promotes by this both the light weight approaches and the reduction of production costs.
Objectives of SCALE-FRP: Development of a thermoset FRP-process with some similarities to RTM, which ...is applicable to all serial numbers in aeronautics industry - from single part production up to several hundred parts per year or even more. allows high mechanical properties of the parts shows minimized shrinkage resulting from the thermoset resin system (to be developed) and from the process parameters affecting both curing shrinkage (resulting from curing reaction) and thermal shrinkage (resulting from cooling down to room temperature) is highly flexible production process with minimized tooling and setup times. This improves efficient usage of the manufacturing resources as an additional benefit to the independency of the serial number is a robust process due to upstream simulation of the manufacturing process (in terms of curing proccess, considering resin properties, lay-up, process parameters and tooling). This upstream simulation (to be developed) shall be an integral part of the manufacturing process. It shall also be used for an iterative construction of the tooling in order to achieve an shrinkage compensating tooling design. provides options for alternative tooling materials (e.g. in-situ polyamide) at constant FRP part quality (to be investigated).
SCALE-FRP covers the whole value-added chain starting at FRP part development, simulation of the manufacturing process, tooling design and - obviously - the adapted infusion and curing process.
WP-Structure:
WP1: Requirements & information platform
WP2: Development of a new resin system (thermoset, 2 or 3 components)
WP3: Scale-up 1: pilot plant scale
WP4: Modelling of the manufacturing process
WP5: Transfer of WP4-resultats into a CAx-chain
WP6: Verification 1 (pilot plant scale)
WP7: Verification 2 (field-scale)
WP8: Mechanical testing, non-destructive testing etc.
WP9: Management, Dissemination & Exploitation.
Partners sought:
aeronautics industry partner providing knowledge regarding materials and processes requirements and validation support industry partner with high competence in equipment and production technology Required activity: development of equipment and of a pilot line industry partner for formulation and production of complex multi-component resin systems and high openness for research cooperation company developing and providing materials and processes modelling software focussed on polymer processing.
Development stage : Proposal Under Development
European funding source(s) : FP7 - Co-operation, Transport (including aeronautics)
Type of Project: FP7 Collaborative Research
Keywords : Construction Technology (002006), Materials Technology (002007), Aerospace Technology (002010), Simulation, Simulation Engineering (002006009), Composite Materials (002007005), Plastics, Polymers (002007014), Aircraft (002010002)
Organisation type : Technical/Research Centre
Organisation size : 250-500
Other details : Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG) - Research partner for industry. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is the leading organization for institutes of applied research in Europe. At present, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft maintains some 80 research units, including 57 Fraunhofer Institutes, at over 40 different locations in Germany. The majority of the roughly 12,700 staff are qualified scientists and engineers, who work with an annual research budget of over 1 billion euros. Of this sum, more than 900 million is generated through contract research. Roughly two thirds of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's contract research revenue is derived from contracts with industry and from publicly financed research projects. The remaining one third is contributed by the German federal and Länder governments, partly as a means of enabling the institutes to pursue more fundamental research in areas that are likely to become relevant to industry and society in five or ten years' time.
IFAM - Expertise and know-how - Adhesive Bonding Technology and Surfaces - The Department of Adhesive Bonding Technology and Surfaces of the Fraunhofer-Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research IFAM is the largest independent research group in Europe working in the area of industrial bonding technology. Over 130 employees are actively engaged in applied R&D work in adhesive bonding technology and surface technology. The scope of the work extends from fundamental research right through to production and market introduction of new products. The industrial application fields are chiefly vehicle manufacture and mechanical engineering, energy technology (principally wind and solar energy), micro-production and the packaging and electrical industries. The Adhesive Bonding Technology business field is concerned with the development and characterization of resins and adhesives, the optimized design and simulation of bonded and hybrid joints and their testing and qualification. The planning and automation of adhesive bonding at an industrial scale are also carried out. Further areas of work are process reviews and the provision of certified training courses in adhesive bonding technology. The Surfaces business field is split into the work groups Plasma Technology and Paint/Lacquer Technology. Customized modification of surfaces - for example pretreatment of surfaces prior to bonding or coating and corrosion protection coatings - considerably extends the range of uses of many materials. One area of work which extends to both these business fields is Surface and Interface Analysis. The fundamental knowledge acquired here contributes to the effectiveness of bonded joints and coatings. The Department of Adhesive Bonding Technology and Surfaces is certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001 and the material testing laboratory is also accredited in accordance with DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025. The Center Adhesive Bonding Technology is an internationally recognized organization for providing employee training courses in adhesive bonding technology and is accredited by the DVS-PersZert in accordance with DIN EN ISO/IEC 17024.
Target partner organisation type(s) : SME (<250 employees), Large Company
Target partner expertise sought :
1. Aeronautics industry partner providing detailed information regarding materials and processes requirements and certification duties. Contribution to the definition and production of coupon and validation samples is essential.
2. Industry partner with high competence in equipment and production technology related to thermoset resins. The expertise shall cover the whole process: Receiving of preforms, resin components and other raw materials Handling of tooling and the raw materials (preforms, resin etc.) Processing (infusion/infiltration, initiation of curing process) Process controlling and quality monitoring.
The industry partner shall develop and set-up a pilot plant line, which is required to validate the overall process.
3. Industry partner for formulation, production and processing of complex multi-component resin systems and high openness for research cooperation. The expected project success requires a close and confidential collaboration of highly motivated partners.
4. Company developing and providing materials and processes modelling software focussed on polymer processing. The expertise shall cover the whole process starting from lay-up and resin properties (physical and chemical properties relevant during infiltration/infusion, curing and final) The SCALE-FRP must be commercially exploited.
Application domains : INDUSTRY, Aerospace technology,
Materials technology, Chemical industry, Automation/Robotics
Contact : Aleksandra Slaby
Email : IRC@axon-technologie.de
Telephone : +49 - (0)421 - 20156-0
Fax : +49 - (0)421 - 20156-90
WWW : http://www.axon-technologie.de
Partner Request Entered by: Organisation: AXON Technologie Consult GmbH
City: Bremen
Organisation Country: Germany
Organisation Telephone: +49 - (0)421 - 20156-0
Organisation Fax: +49 - (0)421 - 20156-90
Organisation Email: irc@axon-technologie.de
Organisation Web: http://www.axon-technologie.de
Entry date : 23/1/2008
Update date : 23/1/2008
Deadline for responses: 15/4/2008
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