The activity carried out by the consortium in the full project period encompassing months 1-36, i.e. November 2015-October 2018, has fully complied with the proposed tasks described in the Document of the Action. There has not been any real deviation with regards to the foreseen planned activities. The Project Coordinator Team would like to highlight the good collaboration that the partners showed during all the project.
Within WP2, three pilot products have been analyzed in their functional system using all the information available.Current process of producing B-Pillar, Valve and Swash Plates have been defined by the end users; MAIER, BRI and FMG respectively, and a deep analysis has been performed with aim to check if the new processes chosen will have a negative impact in product functions or customer requirements.
In WP3 how to integrate nanomaterials in production in a safe way has been the main goal. High resistance castings from masterpellets has been tested and validated in the foundry environment (HardCast). Development and validation of nano-structured coatings trough cold sprayed micro-powders have been studied to improve the wear resistance (TRIBOnano). Development of highly content nanofiller polymeric masterbatches with enhanced anti-scratch performance and nanotextured inserts for new aesthetics have been validated (ESTCRACHT).
Within WP4, in order to assure the reliability of the results from a laboratory environment to an industrial one, it has been planned the “ad‐hoc” design for several production media if the conventional ones were not suitable for the purpose of the new nano based developed materials. Not special media has been required for HardCAST and ESTCRACHT pilots. TRIBOnano, instead, has been created from nothing.
WP5 has been devoted with the production of three selected prototypes. The HardCAST (Valve plate) pilot plant has been implemented in Fonderia Mora Gavardo´s (FMG) facilities. TRIBOnano (Swash plate) pilot has been mounted and calibrated to a fully operational system in TECNALIA facilities. At the ESTCRACHT Pilot, B-Pillar parts have been produced at MAIER. The validation of the whole process, focusing on the up‐scale and capacity of the technology and a cost analysis, has been accomplished.
In WP6 a deep work has been performed to ensure safe design of nano products, safe design and operation facilities and safety and health at work and safe production and products.
In WP7, an exploitation strategy has been outlined producing a realistic framework for each defined key exploitable result (KERs) by partner. A pre-exploitation plan has been defined at M12 and checked and implemented at M24 and M36. Finally, a catalogue of innovation risks has been defined to detect potential threats that may impair or delay the innovation development or prejudice the subsequent exploitation phase.
In WP8, a Dissemination Plan has been agreed by the partners to make the project known all over the European states. Partners contributed to that effort and strived to maximize use of all existing dissemination channels, such as high-quality papers containing the best scientific achievements and oral and poster contributions to topical international and European conferences. Industrial partners participated in workshops, fairs and showcases to show technical achievements and prototypes to stakeholders.
