Polymers are increasingly used as a lightweight and more sustainable alternative to traditional materials like metals in e.g. the aviation and automotive industries. However product developers are not using the polymer materials to their full potential since they don’t fully trust their models of strength and longevity. Having information about the material properties in the bulk of the components during the product development and production stage will provide this trust.
Based on decades of experience from x-ray characterization and instrumentation, our team has developed an x-ray diffraction method to efficiently generate this bulk data for semicrystalline polymers and provide it for intuitive utilization for high performance manufacturers of polymers and composites components.
During the LIMP POC project we pursue the following objectives to enable this technology:
1. Extend the functionality of the technique from 2D maps to 3D maps
2. Engage with key actors in the market to disseminate demonstration cases
3. Increase the portfolio of material the technique has been tested on.
4. Increase speed of acquisitions
Polymers experience a phase transition during production and will generally go through a thermal cycle. Both aspects have a high impact and the final properties of the material. The geometry of the components influences both temperature and the magnitude and direction of imposed forces a volume has been subjected to. This means that mechanical properties vary for different volumes in the component. Extending functionality of the technique from 2D to 3D means the distribution in all three spatial dimensions can be measured. Furthermore, having 3D measurements means that the results are aligned with the simulations manufacturers rely on at this moment. Familiarity with the format of the information means a higher adaptation rate.
Diffraction has been used many years to reveal microstructure of materials, but manufacturers have not had an efficient method use this technique. This means that this type of data is new to potential customers even if they in rare cases evaluate material properties in the final product it is not done consistently and for the complete geometry. Providing potential users with examples and demonstrating use cases will accelerate the adaptation from end-users. In order to make the examples feel relevant a need for both production challenges and materials that are known and similar to the approached end-users are needed.
The project aims to provide full maps of the microstructure and thus a map of variations in mechanical properties for polymers manufacturers. For this information to be available and relevant the measurements need to be efficiently conducted. The measurement needs to be made shortly after the order is made and to be finished quickly. From experience with industrial CT measurements, we have aimed for 1 week of lead time and a full day of measuring.
The impact of having this technique efficiently available would be substantial in terms of giving a more sustainable manufacturing. In polymer production the critical components that are produced are typically overengineered 50% which would be a significant reduction in material use. Furthermore, will the waste be reduced when fewer components are scrapped.
An even more significant impact will be the potential to drive the change in material use away from traditional materials like metal to lightweight and low CO2 emitting polymers. Lighter materials save emissions both during transportation and when the product is in use in e.g. the transportation sector for planes and automobiles.
