Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FLEXCRASH (Flexible and hybrid manufacturing of green aluminium to produce tailored adaptive crash-tolerant structures)
Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-02-29
During the 1st RP, the main technical objectives have been the following:
Define future crash relevant scenarios and derive Flexcrash load case requirements
-Conceptual design of the active safety crash tolerant structure
-Adapt the current fracture models to flexible and hybrid manufacturing technologies and validate it at lab-scale.
-Analyse requirements for the integration of the LDM operation to the manufacturing process
-Definition of the functional features, specifications and testing requirements of the project demonstrator
The specifics objectives are:
-Design the local reinforcement of casting and extruded profiles using small-scale 3D structures (AVFF) to increase energy absorption in different directions and thereby tackle crash events under different impact angles.
-Optimize the processing parameters of additive manufacturing (LMD technology) of Al alloys to introduce these AVFF patterns in HPDC and extruded samples
To manage and promote all the activities related to the communication, exploitation and dissemination of the results obtained in the project:
- Plan and carry out dissemination strategy and standardization activities to facilitate market uptake and transfer research results and knowledge towards the scientific and industrial community.
- Ensure proper management of the exploitable results to accelerate its market introduction and support IPR mechanisms and processes.
- Set up Flexcrash communication channels and ensure continuous communication activities to generate awareness on the project and promote it to key stakeholders and the broad audience.
- To provide effective management of the partnership, financial and activity planning and reporting, and to ensure a successful completion of the project objectives with high quality results within the agreed time and budget.
- To implement data management based on the Data Management Plan
Define future crash relevant scenarios and derive Flexcrash load case requirements
-Conceptual design of the active safety crash tolerant structure
-Adapt the current fracture models to flexible and hybrid manufacturing technologies and validate it at lab-scale.
-Analyse requirements for the integration of the LDM operation to the manufacturing process
-Definition of the functional features, specifications and testing requirements of the project demonstrator
The specifics objectives are:
-Design the local reinforcement of casting and extruded profiles using small-scale 3D structures (AVFF) to increase energy absorption in different directions and thereby tackle crash events under different impact angles.
-Optimize the processing parameters of additive manufacturing (LMD technology) of Al alloys to introduce these AVFF patterns in HPDC and extruded samples
To manage and promote all the activities related to the communication, exploitation and dissemination of the results obtained in the project:
- Plan and carry out dissemination strategy and standardization activities to facilitate market uptake and transfer research results and knowledge towards the scientific and industrial community.
- Ensure proper management of the exploitable results to accelerate its market introduction and support IPR mechanisms and processes.
- Set up Flexcrash communication channels and ensure continuous communication activities to generate awareness on the project and promote it to key stakeholders and the broad audience.
- To provide effective management of the partnership, financial and activity planning and reporting, and to ensure a successful completion of the project objectives with high quality results within the agreed time and budget.
- To implement data management based on the Data Management Plan
A comprehensive overview of the complexity of integrating automated vehicles into mixed traffic environments has been carried out. It highlights the dual potential of AVs to mitigate accidents caused by human error and the challenges posed by the co-existence of different types of vehicles (D1.1). FLEXCRASH defined and validated the most commons traffic scenarios developing a Flexcrash platform that generates and simulates interactive driving
scenarios. It enables live interaction and possibly leads to identifying critical mixed-traffic scenarios. The Flexcrash platform follows established design patterns typical of Web applications to achieve scalability, interoperability, and ease of use (1.2). During the first RP the project also defined the initial boundary conditions to develop the design concept of the front end addressed by the project to respond to the future crash scenario
calculated by simulation in the project. The conceptual design will couple novel concepts to manufacture the metal constituting components - integrating additive manufacturing with conventional technologies, namely extrusion and high-pressure die casting (HPDC) - intended to trade off enhanced passive crash performance and light-weighting and actuators to move in due time the front end according to a predicted crash event (D1.3). The limitation and boundaries of these technologies are reported in D1.5 . The manufacturing strategy needs to be flexible from a product design point of view,
opening new possibilities with complex geometries that might not be feasible using conventional technologies. It also needs to be environmentally sustainable, allowing the use of recycled materials. Finally, the process needs to be scalable to industrial production, as well as flexible and interoperable, in order to reuse assets and to be competitive in the market. Finally, the technical challenges of developing lightweight vehicles that must comply with safety regulations are reported in D1.6. It discusses various factors that influence the need for lightweight designs, the role of safety regulations, the complexity of safety systems, the demand for fuel efficiency, and advances in production technologies and material development.The project aims to integrate sustainable materials (e.g. recycled aluminum) into vehicle structures, develop or improve new manufacturing processes and use virtual development tools for crash-tolerant vehicle structures. Finally, the need for new test requirements and configurations based on the Gemate G3 GLAB demonstrator vehicle covering different crash scenarios is highlighted and the materials commonly used for crash structures such as steel, aluminum and composites are compared. The importance of recycled aluminum is highlighted due to its environmental and cost benefits. The initial risk management plan, data management plan, PEDR and standardization framework analysis have been performed.
scenarios. It enables live interaction and possibly leads to identifying critical mixed-traffic scenarios. The Flexcrash platform follows established design patterns typical of Web applications to achieve scalability, interoperability, and ease of use (1.2). During the first RP the project also defined the initial boundary conditions to develop the design concept of the front end addressed by the project to respond to the future crash scenario
calculated by simulation in the project. The conceptual design will couple novel concepts to manufacture the metal constituting components - integrating additive manufacturing with conventional technologies, namely extrusion and high-pressure die casting (HPDC) - intended to trade off enhanced passive crash performance and light-weighting and actuators to move in due time the front end according to a predicted crash event (D1.3). The limitation and boundaries of these technologies are reported in D1.5 . The manufacturing strategy needs to be flexible from a product design point of view,
opening new possibilities with complex geometries that might not be feasible using conventional technologies. It also needs to be environmentally sustainable, allowing the use of recycled materials. Finally, the process needs to be scalable to industrial production, as well as flexible and interoperable, in order to reuse assets and to be competitive in the market. Finally, the technical challenges of developing lightweight vehicles that must comply with safety regulations are reported in D1.6. It discusses various factors that influence the need for lightweight designs, the role of safety regulations, the complexity of safety systems, the demand for fuel efficiency, and advances in production technologies and material development.The project aims to integrate sustainable materials (e.g. recycled aluminum) into vehicle structures, develop or improve new manufacturing processes and use virtual development tools for crash-tolerant vehicle structures. Finally, the need for new test requirements and configurations based on the Gemate G3 GLAB demonstrator vehicle covering different crash scenarios is highlighted and the materials commonly used for crash structures such as steel, aluminum and composites are compared. The importance of recycled aluminum is highlighted due to its environmental and cost benefits. The initial risk management plan, data management plan, PEDR and standardization framework analysis have been performed.
During the first RP the project focused on the definition of the following points:
1. Confirm and validate the potential future crashes scenarios with the creation of an open access platform where multiple players could test their reaction in online simulated scenario.
2. Based on that, define the front-end design capable of reduce injury risk while adopting new green materials for lightweithing objectives
3. The DEMO is manufactured by using hybrid innovative technologies. The risks and the limitations together with the advantages are taken into account.
No obstacles have been detected at this stage. The reasearch activities must be finalized to understand their final performances. In the meanwhile, the analysis of the commercial and policies landscape that could smooth the commercialization pathway has been analysed and will be kept in the radar till the end of the project.
1. Confirm and validate the potential future crashes scenarios with the creation of an open access platform where multiple players could test their reaction in online simulated scenario.
2. Based on that, define the front-end design capable of reduce injury risk while adopting new green materials for lightweithing objectives
3. The DEMO is manufactured by using hybrid innovative technologies. The risks and the limitations together with the advantages are taken into account.
No obstacles have been detected at this stage. The reasearch activities must be finalized to understand their final performances. In the meanwhile, the analysis of the commercial and policies landscape that could smooth the commercialization pathway has been analysed and will be kept in the radar till the end of the project.