Descrizione del progetto
Nuovi orizzonti nei componenti in metallo-polimero
I compositi in fibra di carbonio (CFC) stanno sostituendo sempre più spesso i metalli nei prodotti che richiedono caratteristiche di leggerezza. Tuttavia, a causa del processo di produzione tradizionale e della scarsa conduttività termica, l’uso di questi compositi si è limitato alle applicazioni strutturali. Ad esempio, gli involucri delle batterie, dei motori elettrici e dell’elettronica di potenza sono in genere realizzati interamente in alluminio perché richiedono un’efficiente dissipazione del calore. L’utilizzo di alluminio puro comporta una soluzione più pesante e meno economica rispetto all’utilizzo di CFC puri. L’idea alla base del progetto MULTHEM, finanziato dall’UE, è quella di sfruttare i diversi vantaggi dei metalli e dei materiali CFC per sviluppare e convalidare nuovi processi affidabili di produzione additiva e nuovi multi-materiali metallo-polimero con caratteristiche strutturali e di raffreddamento con un approccio più economico rispetto ai metodi tradizionali.
Obiettivo
The 26th Climate Change Conference has highlighted the urgent need to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions to limit global warming. The transport sector accounts for approx. 16% of the global carbon emissions and has identified fleet electrification as the primary route to achieving climate neutrality. However, the main challenges are the current weight of components and the cost of new systems to ensure efficiency and long-term sustainability. As a result, the industry has recognised the need for transformative technologies and production methods to develop lighter, more efficient, and cost-effective solutions to enable this transition and achieve climate neutrality.
With their outstanding mechanical strength, Carbon Fibre Composites (CFC) have been increasingly used to replace metals in products requiring lightweight features, such as aircraft or high-performance vehicles. However, due to the traditional manufacturing process and poor thermal conductivity, the use of CFC has been limited to structural applications. For example, batteries, electrical motors, and power electronics, where power losses need to be efficiently dissipated, typically require separate heat exchangers, resulting in heavier and less cost-effective solutions that still utilize bulky designs and heavy materials.
The vision of MULTHEM is to develop a reliable and validated Additively Manufactured (AM) CFC process with enhanced thermal conductivity with different material combinations and nanotechnology. This innovative approach will allow the development of components, such as battery and motor housings with dual functionality comprising structural and cooling features and with a more cost-effective approach than traditional methods. This solution will enhance the product performance, first by the weight reduction achieved by designs that only AM enables, and second, by using CFC-metal structures with enhanced thermal conductivity strategies, lighter and stronger than aluminium or steel.
Campo scientifico
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcomposites
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringaircraft
- engineering and technologynanotechnology
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineeringadditive manufacturing
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinatore
23700 Linares
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