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Content archived on 2024-06-18

Resource-Efficient Self-Reinforced Plastic Materials and Processing

Objective

The aims of the Esprit project are to reduce the amount of plastic used to make a component by 30% and reduce component weight by 30%, by developing the next generation of lightweight, self-reinforced plastics and the energy-efficient manufacturing processes needed to produce components from this family of materials. Current forms of self-reinforced plastics typically offer typically 3-5 times the strength and stiffness of unreinforced plastics, but they are only available in sheet or fabric form. This severely limits the range and types of components that can be manufactured and limits the commercial uptake of these important materials. The overall goal of this project is to develop materials and processes to allow flow moulding (injection moulding and compression moulding) of self-reinforced commodity polymers (polypropylene (PP), polyamide (PA) and PET). Key to this is the development of techniques that will allow the selective melting of the polymer matrix without causing adverse effects on the polymer fibre. This will therefore necessitate the development of energy-efficient microwave and induction-heating techniques to allow selective melting of the matrix polymer. High performance, commodity polymers will be used to develop self-reinforced plastics with significantly enhanced properties over existing plastic and, for the first time, the ability to be compression and injection moulded. This topic is particularly relevant to the work programme, which calls for new processing methods for speciality polymers that are more resource-efficient. Self-reinforced plastics are more resource efficient because they are 3-5 times stronger and stiffer than conventional polymers, so less material is needed to manufacture components to reach a particular specification, but they require innovative new heating processes to form them into components, which include alternative energy sources.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-NMP-2007-SME-1
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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

CP-TP - Collaborative Project targeted to a special group (such as SMEs)

Coordinator

NETCOMPOSITES LIMITED
EU contribution
€ 662 912,00
Address
BRIDGE WAY 4A BROOM BUSINESS PARK
S41 9QG Chesterfield
United Kingdom

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Region
East Midlands (England) Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire East Derbyshire
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

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Participants (13)

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