News: Rotherham firms combine to research the use of bio-composites in the automotive industry
The potential use of biocomposites, such as hemp and cashew nut resin, to make bodywork panels for cars is being researched by engineers based at the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham.
The £100,000 ELCOMAP (Environmentally friendly lightweight composite materials for aerodynamic body panels) project will research the potential alternatives to composite technologies currently in use such as carbon fibre and epoxy resin systems. The technology has the potential to revolutionise the production of low volume specialist components for high performance vehicles.
Project partners include Performance Engineered Solutions (PES) Ltd, TEKS UK Ltd and the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing.
The project is supported by a £50,000 grant from the Niche Vehicle Network. Robert Anderson, the Niche Vehicle R&D Programme Manager said: "The NVN systems funding programme is playing a vital role in supporting UK engineering innovation. In the global automotive sector, highly creative and dynamic niche businesses are sometimes overlooked, and our three month funding packages worth up to £50,000, provide important support to R&D projects such as the ELCOMAP project."
Performance Engineered Solutions (PES) Ltd is leading the project, and design director, Dan Fleetcroft added: "This is an exciting project, both in terms of the untapped potential for biocomposites in the automotive industry, and having the opportunity to work on the project with key strategic partner organisations such as TEKS and the AMRC.
"Annual production revenue in the UK composite sector currently amounts to around £1.1 billion, about £0.4 billion of which is exported. UK demand for composites is expected to grow rapidly over the next 5 years to £2bn in 2015. The UK growth rates for glass fibre (9% pa) and carbon fibre (17% pa) composites are faster than those forecast for the UK and the rest of Europe, and match or exceed those of emerging markets."
PES Ltd, grew out of AMP-based Bromley Technologies Ltd and specialises in enhancing the performance of components, products and systems by delivering integrated engineering thinking alongside innovative design, materials, manufacturing and testing technologies.
Roland Krain, General Manager TEKS SARL Ltd added: "According to some predictions 80% of the world carbon fibre production will be taken up with the production of aircraft parts by such companies as Boeing and Airbus. In such cases carbon fibre composites will become more costly with increased production lead times.
"The biocomposite systems being researched in this project will offer a viable alternative to such carbon fibre composites with the added benefit of the biocomposite being green."
TEKS is a privately owned French SME actively involved in process design and optimisation, project management, training and technology exploitation.
Dr Tim Swait, research engineer at the AMRC Composite Centre, said: "There are a number of areas we need to investigate before these biocomposites can go into commercial production. We will research how we can increase the concentration of fibres to give material properties that are at least a match for synthetic composites, and how we design the lay-up for a biocomposite component to optimise its performance.
"We're also investigating the use of other techniques to improve the energy efficiency of composites manufacturing, such as microwave curing."
A state-of-the-art facility allows the AMRC Composite Centre to provide a full range of design, manufacturing, assembly and structural testing services for advanced composite materials.
The award follows the recent announcement that a grant has been secured for an advanced manufacturing "proving factory" in Rotherham to develop the mass production of new low carbon technologies for the vehicles of tomorrow.
PES Ltd website
TEKS SARL
AMRC website
Images: AMRC
The £100,000 ELCOMAP (Environmentally friendly lightweight composite materials for aerodynamic body panels) project will research the potential alternatives to composite technologies currently in use such as carbon fibre and epoxy resin systems. The technology has the potential to revolutionise the production of low volume specialist components for high performance vehicles.
Project partners include Performance Engineered Solutions (PES) Ltd, TEKS UK Ltd and the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing.
The project is supported by a £50,000 grant from the Niche Vehicle Network. Robert Anderson, the Niche Vehicle R&D Programme Manager said: "The NVN systems funding programme is playing a vital role in supporting UK engineering innovation. In the global automotive sector, highly creative and dynamic niche businesses are sometimes overlooked, and our three month funding packages worth up to £50,000, provide important support to R&D projects such as the ELCOMAP project."
Performance Engineered Solutions (PES) Ltd is leading the project, and design director, Dan Fleetcroft added: "This is an exciting project, both in terms of the untapped potential for biocomposites in the automotive industry, and having the opportunity to work on the project with key strategic partner organisations such as TEKS and the AMRC.
"Annual production revenue in the UK composite sector currently amounts to around £1.1 billion, about £0.4 billion of which is exported. UK demand for composites is expected to grow rapidly over the next 5 years to £2bn in 2015. The UK growth rates for glass fibre (9% pa) and carbon fibre (17% pa) composites are faster than those forecast for the UK and the rest of Europe, and match or exceed those of emerging markets."
PES Ltd, grew out of AMP-based Bromley Technologies Ltd and specialises in enhancing the performance of components, products and systems by delivering integrated engineering thinking alongside innovative design, materials, manufacturing and testing technologies.
Roland Krain, General Manager TEKS SARL Ltd added: "According to some predictions 80% of the world carbon fibre production will be taken up with the production of aircraft parts by such companies as Boeing and Airbus. In such cases carbon fibre composites will become more costly with increased production lead times.
"The biocomposite systems being researched in this project will offer a viable alternative to such carbon fibre composites with the added benefit of the biocomposite being green."
TEKS is a privately owned French SME actively involved in process design and optimisation, project management, training and technology exploitation.
Dr Tim Swait, research engineer at the AMRC Composite Centre, said: "There are a number of areas we need to investigate before these biocomposites can go into commercial production. We will research how we can increase the concentration of fibres to give material properties that are at least a match for synthetic composites, and how we design the lay-up for a biocomposite component to optimise its performance.
"We're also investigating the use of other techniques to improve the energy efficiency of composites manufacturing, such as microwave curing."
A state-of-the-art facility allows the AMRC Composite Centre to provide a full range of design, manufacturing, assembly and structural testing services for advanced composite materials.
The award follows the recent announcement that a grant has been secured for an advanced manufacturing "proving factory" in Rotherham to develop the mass production of new low carbon technologies for the vehicles of tomorrow.
PES Ltd website
TEKS SARL
AMRC website
Images: AMRC
1 comments:
Fascinating and given the increasing shortages not to mention the environmental cost of producing steel, oil based plastics and carbon, this is a welcome development.
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