Plastic Materials & Composites

New manufacturing process that allows to use high-performance thermoplastic matrix composite materials reinforced with carbon fibre in the regional aircraft construction. The utilization of these thermoplastic matrix composite materials in the construction of regional aircrafts is limited due to the complexity of forming of these materials and the high costs that the process implies. The KEELBEMAN innovation reduces these production and assembly costs through the optimisation of the high temperature compression process and the application of innovative welding technologies, enabling the use of these materials in the construction of structures for regional aircrafts. KEELBEMAN solves technological [...]

Development of regional aircraft thermoplastic composite windows frames using advanced and innovative industrial processes and Out of Autoclave composite manufacturing (OOA – alternative to autoclave process commonly applied for the aeronautic industry for producing high performance composite materials) with the aim of reducing the weight of the window frames and their production costs. WINFRAME 4.0 solution allows the utilization of thermoplastic composite materials for the construction of regional aircrafts and develops faster and more reliable processes, thanks to the use of polymers reinforced with carbon fibres and innovative processes. The innovations of WINFRAME 4.0, coordinated by [...]

New manufacturing process for carbon fibre fuselage frames to be able to apply these materials in the construction of regional aircrafts. The new manufacturing process developed by COFRARE 2020 marks a new milestone for the aeronautical European industry and for the construction of lighter and more sustainable planes, through the integration of carbon fibre into the fuselage. These materials, which are already being used for the construction of big commercial aircrafts’ structure, imply high costs, which complicates its integration in smaller airplanes. COFRARE 2020 solution improves the manufacturing flow and reduces significantly the manufacturing costs and [...]

Development of novel materials and manufacturing processes for a high-volume production of OLAE devices. The MADRAS project, coordinated by Eurecat, has the objective to develop new materials and  manufacturing processes for a scalable production in an industrial level of OLAE devices. The project addresses the use of conventional and established industrial manufacturing techniques and adapted processing tools to deliver this innovative technology closer to market. The use of organic and large area-electronics (OLAE) technologies and components have experienced a remarkable increase in recent years thanks to printed electronics technologies progress which offers solutions to develop OLAE thinner, [...]

Development of new models and methods to improve the design capabilities of the hybrid boxes, such as the wings of the airplanes, formed by metallic panels and composite materials components. INNOHYBOX project, coordinated by Eurecat, investigates the thermo-mechanical behaviour of hybrid boxes with the purpose to optimize them by developing a new robust and experimentally validated design. Currently, it is usual to use a combination of metallic and composites materials in the construction of airplanes wings, but it is necessary more knowledge about the hybrid structure to avoid disadjustments between the components, causing thermal stresses and [...]

Innovative and affordable solutions for advanced car body shells manufacturing and lightweight material strategies for railways, innovative doors and train modularity. The CARBODIN project, coordinated by Eurecat, has the objective to contribute to the next generation of passenger trains that will be lighter and more energy and cost efficient than the current ones. An important step for that is the use of composite technologies, which still face barriers for full implementation such as their high cost. Another important aspect is the modular design of interiors and low-cost manufacturing of vehicles part. The Composites Materials Unit of Eurecat [...]

The Community of Industries of the Future, coordinated by Eurecat and composed of 28 reference entities in the Catalan manufacturing sector, aims to consolidate a leading innovation pole in Efficient and Sustainable  Manufacturing in Catalonia, by creating a network of capacities and local pilot plants that allow the cohesion of integral value chains around industrial R+D+i. The IdF community jointly proposes the realization of 5 strategic projects of applied research and industrial development during the 2018-2020 triennium, focused on the fields of industrial digitization, collaborative robots, advanced processes and functional products. These include the IGNITE project, [...]

AMFEED aims to design and manufacture new materials to be used with additive manufacturing techniques to create metal and ceramic parts characterised by their controlled porosity level through sintering processes. These pieces are designed for high-added-value applications, such as healthcare or microelectronics. The project uses methods based on the FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication) technique, develops new materials previously unseen on the market ad hoc (filaments with high metal/ceramic content and ceramic pastes), and adapts machinery to this new solution and new applications. FFF technology will provide a controlled way to design and define the internal pores [...]

ECOFIBRA is designing and testing a composite material with advanced mechanical properties made in an additised thermoplastic mould from recovered cellulose fibre. The project will also examine options regarding the application of cellulose fibre to new products and new circular economy business models and will optimise recyclable paper’s journey from the disposal point to the management centre through the design of a stackable container made from the generated composite material. ECOFIBRA will also develop a raw material quality measurement system to improve the quality of the final material. The results of the project will be applied [...]

PLASTFUN develops techniques and methods necessary for establishing a pilot manufacturing line of plastic injection pieces with surfaces with advanced functions, on an industrial scale. The manufacturing pilot will enable companies in the territory to develop new products using these technologies and to acquire the necessary knowledge for their profitable production. The technologies developed will be validated into industrial demonstrations that will reflect, on the one hand, the advances in nanotexturing with film with the aim of creating integrated light effects with printed circuits that contain LEDs and, on the other hand, the advances in nanotexturing [...]

AIRPOXY reduces the production and maintenance costs of composite parts in the aeronautic sector by introducing a novel family of thermoset composites that preserve all the advantages of conventional thermosets but can also be reprocessed, repaired and even recycled. To achieve so, project partners develop and validate a family of ground-breaking thermoset resins recently patented by CIDETEC, AIRPOXY coordinator, that preserves their high performance, in terms of easy fiber impregnation and overall stability, while showing new unprecedented features. During the project, the thermoset resins will be brought from proof of concept (TRL3) to validation in industrial [...]

Jif2Land project aims to evaluate laminar flow wings technology and to reduce the amount of combustible needed and, ultimately, the environmental and footprint of air transport. The project contributed to the development of the natural laminar flow wing technology and to test the technology on an Airbus A340 aircraft for the validation of the concept; the world’s first commercial test aircraft with a laminar flow wing. The adoption of this technology on commercial aircrafts such as Airbus A340 will allow a considerable reduction in wing friction and will drop CO2 emissions up [...]

Development of a new biomedical implant based on optogenetics technology – the combination of genetics and optics techniques to control and monitor activities of cells in a living tissue with light to activate cells to produce themselves the necessary drug (interferon-ß (IFN-ß) protein in this case) – that can be applied to improve the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis ,improve the quality of life of people affected by this disease and reduce the side effects of current treatments. Optogenerapy project t is led by Eurecat and counts on the participation of eleven partners from seven different European [...]

Rewastee project aims to provide the sustainable construction market with a unique and sustainable thermos-acoustic material from Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) waste, a residue from the metallurgy industry. The Rewastee solution will contribute to a better energetic efficiency in the construction sector and a reduction of the residue management’s economic costs and its environmental impact. The innovative material has been designed and validated for multiple applications such as sound insulation boards, multilayer wall partitions, underflooring and other uses in which thermal inertia and acoustic insulation are needed. Rewastee is a European project lasting 3 years funded [...]

The aim of this project is to develop a product for the construction of light architectural structures that need to reproduce complex geometries modifiable according to different needs. This will help the construction industry to be more competitive and integrated according to the global standards. The HyperMembraneDEMO solution will be applied in open or closed spaces and as a primary or secondary structure. With the technology developed within the HyperMembraneDEMO project, structures will be able to change its form in order to protect the inside from the sunlight allowing an optimal illumination or to ventilate the [...]