Development of high-performance barrels with innovative gradient coatings

Objective

A large amount of plastic raw material is processed by screw extrusion and by screw injection moulding techniques. The degree of equipment wear for these techniques represents one of the issues of greater concern since it determines the economic feasibility of processing, especially in view of increasing filler content of plastics, processing temperatures and throughputs of plants.
The main objective of the project is the development of a set of barrels with innovative internal thick coatings, featuring a compositional gradient along their length to optimise the coating behaviour and better face the different tribological and corrosive environments encountered during service in the specific sections of the extruder.
DEBACOAT aims to face important challenges:
- to overcome the current trial-error approach for applied research and development of new coating solutions
- to understand the relationship existing between materials and process parameters for obtaining high-quality coatings and improving their properties
- to guarantee reliability and repeatability on the production
The expected improved performance of the barrels can be specifically achieved by investigating and optimizing the following scientific issues:
- R&D feedstock powder formulation for each specific working condition experienced in each section of the extruder;
- R&D the chemical composition of the coating both along thickness (radially - as governed by dilution with backing steel) and also along the length of barrel (as governed by differentiated powder composition and specific melting processes);
- Processing the barrels by induction heating and spin casting to achieve controlled zone-melting and solidification of the thick coating with a compositional gradient along its length;
- Alternative novel processing of the barrels by laser cladding or Plasma Transferred Arc (PTA) deposition, to produce compositional gradients along their lengths, especially in twin-screw barrel configuration

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

• engineering and technology materials engineering coating and films
• natural sciences physical sciences optics laser physics

Programme(s)

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

• FP7-SME - Specific Programme "Capacities": Research for the benefit of SMEs

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.

• SME-2012-1 - Research for SMEs

Call for proposal

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

FP7-SME-2012
See other projects for this call

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.

BSG-SME - Research for SMEs

Coordinator

Participants (6)