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project info
Start date: 1 June 2019
End date: 31 May 2022
funding
Fund: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
Total budget: 7 795 916,17 €
EU contribution: 7 795 916,17 € (100%)
programme
Programming period: 2014-2021
Managing authority: Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland

Luxovius: ‘out-of-autoclave automated production’

Thermoplastic composite is described by many experts and specialist media as ‘the material of the future.’ Thermoplastic composite is made from thermoplastic fibers that are compressed under pressure and heat into a hard, very strong and light material. It is these superior properties that are particularly suitable but for application in aviation: where strength and light weight are crucial properties for improving the efficiency of aircraft.Thermoplastic composite, however, is very precious material. The reason for this is, firstly, the high cost of the raw material, but above all the production process that has a high energy intensity, has a long process time and requires heavy, maintenance intensive production facilities. At the heart of this production process is the use of an ‘autoclave,’ this is a heavy metal pressure chamber where the pre-treated material is consolidated under high pressure and heat.The central objective of the consortium partners is to develop, demonstrate and validate an innovative process that combines a number of separate production steps allowing high-quality thermoplastic composites to be produced without the use of the autoclave: the “out-of-autoclave” process. The consequences of this are a significant reduction in energy consumption, CO2 emissions and reduction of process time.The out-of-autoclave process makes thermoplastic composite available at a lower cost. This process also makes it possible to produce more complex, three-dimensional forms from thermoplastics and makes it profitable to also produce smaller parts of thermoplastics.

Flag of Netherlands  Overig Groningen, Netherlands