Valencia, Spain plastic The Technology Center, responsible for coordinating the European Recotrans program, aims to develop an efficient and sustainable processing method that will enable the manufacture of a range of advanced composites for automobiles, trains and trucks.
This new composite material blends thermoplastic polymer composites and metallic materials and thus results in lightweight, high-quality parts, but until now, due to the time-consuming and costly manufacturing process, this material is only suitable for short production times Series of parts.
Composites have many advantages in transportation and other industries because of their high performance and low weight, etc. However, the problem is also obvious that due to the complicated manufacturing method, it is unrealistic to achieve large-scale production.
The European project aims to develop and implement a new efficient and sustainable manufacturing process that will eventually lead to the mass production of new composite materials for the transportation industry.The material produced by this project is made from a thermoplastic polymer Lighter, higher quality hybrid structures made of composite materials and metals, whose production is cheaper due to time and energy savings, helping to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
In particular, the project will develop two innovative technologies: the RTM process for obtaining long-fiber thermoplastic composites and the microwave pulsing and the laser welding technology that allows the insertion of metal inserts into composite materials. Combining these new Technology, three samples were produced: a mainstay of a Mercedes-Benz, a roof of a train made by Stadler, and a car door made by Gestamp.
In the first phase of the project, project leaders will focus on material requirements, the fit of materials and three sample manufacturing systems, and the selection and adaptability of materials for a 42-month project from seven countries Of the 13 partners to participate and received the European Union 2020 research and innovation projects funded grants agreement number 768,737.