Lightweight components such as glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP) have been increasingly used in the construction, mobility and transportation industries for several years to save energy and reduce operating costs. The demand for large-area components made of GFRP has therefore been growing steadily. However, conventional resins in GFRP have the disadvantage that they often only reach their final strength through energy-intensive heat input. This is precisely where the C³ - ColdCureComposites project led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen comes in.
Together with the Fraunhofer IPT and three other project partners, research was carried out in this project on radiation-curing matrix materials for the more energy-efficient production of FRP composites.
Participating research institutes and industrial partners:
- Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT, Aachen - consortium leadership, specification of planned work, process development
- Boldt & Co. Vertriebs OHG, Wermelskirchen
- GLUETEC Industrieklebstoffe GmbH & Co. KG, Greußenheim (Bavaria)
- NOVACOM Reinforced Plastics GmbH, Aachen (Germany)
- polyscale GmbH & Co. KG, Aachen
The project partners pooled their expertise with the aim of producing radiation-curing plastics, designing and manufacturing individual irradiation modules and production equipment, and producing FRP components using different production processes. They also tested and qualified the processes, materials and components.
GLUETEC was responsible for conceptual design, development and characterization of UV-curable resins, which are light-induced curing in a two-step mechanism and can be used as matrix material in the production of FRP materials. The functionality of the concept was demonstrated by suitability tests under series production conditions on a model component.
The C³ - ColdCureComposites project was supported by funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2014-2020. It ran under the funding code EFRE-0801148 from November 2019 to October 2021.
The result of the project is a new production plant for a cold-curing fiber composite semi-finished product that accelerates the production process while saving energy and resources. GLUETEC would like to thank all research partners for the successful cooperation.
For more information, please see the press release (German) of the Fraunhofer Institute: Pressemitteilung des Fraunhofer Instituts.
