Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Innovative End of Life procedures for REcycling INTEGRAl welded Al-Li Aerostructures

Project description

Dismantling and recycling of metallic aircraft structures

Welding technologies are critical for reducing the weight of aircraft fuselages and can replace riveting in aircraft structures. The EU-funded ReINTEGRA project will focus on the creation of dismantling and recycling procedures for integral welded panels that are currently under development for new lightweight aircraft. Researchers will investigate different cutting techniques for size reduction and full separation of all materials and determine how these techniques affect the recyclability of aluminium–lithium alloys. The separated metallic fractions will be processed in a pilot melting facility and the produced metallic alloys characterised to establish a ranking in terms of costs and environmental impact. Researchers will thus be able to select the best option for recycling panels processed by laser beam or friction stir welding.

Objective

The REINTEGRA Project focuses on development of dismantling and recycling procedures for integral welded panels, that are under development for new lightweight and cost-effective aircraft structures within the Eco-Design for Airframe (EDA) activity in the Clean Sky programme. This project will investigate different cutting strategies, ranging from cutting only for size reduction to full separation of all materials, and determine their influence on recyclability of 3rd generation of Al-Li alloys. Furthermore, the need to eliminate primer and topcoats and different decoating methods will be investigated. The separated metallic fractions will be processed in a pilot melting facility and the produced metallic alloys characterised in order to establish a ranking in terms of costs, environmental impact and effectivity, that allows to select the best option for recycling Laser Beam Welded (LBW) and Friction Stir Welded (FSW) panels.
Also, a recycling compatibility tool (software) will be developed to determine compatibility of different Al-Li alloys, filler material and coatings. First, the theoretical composition of mixed materials per weld length will be calculated and then, this composition will be corrected with experimental data from remelting tests regarding element fading/enrichment. The results will be compared with commercial alloys and the recycling compatibility with primary alloys estimated. The aim is to valorize as much as possible of the valuable alloying elements.
The proposed new procedures for dismantling and recycling will be tested both, at coupon level and at live panel dismantling experiment, in which materials will be identified, sorted and pre-treated. The separated metallic fractions will be processed in a pilot melting facility and the produced metallic alloys characterised. Materials and energy flows, emissions and waste generation will be inventoried during the new End of Live process tested and provided to TM for the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

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.

You need to log in or register to use this function

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.

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.

RIA - Research and Innovation action

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

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

(opens in new window) H2020-CS2-CFP10-2019-01

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

FUNDACION AZTERLAN
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 201 495,00
Address
ALIENDALDE 6
48200 Durango
Spain

See on map

Region
Noreste País Vasco Bizkaia
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
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.

€ 231 100,00

Participants (3)

My booklet 0 0