Objective
Objectives and content
As the car manufacturers are focusing on cost and weight
reduction, end life recyclability and security
improvement of their new cars, the objective of this
research project is to develop a seat frame for a
lightweight, safe and totally recyclable seat.
An international investigation of the state of the art
and former studies of the partners have shown that a
thermoplastic polyester based seat frame could provide
for:
40% weight reduction,
filling the last gap to the mono-material totally
recyclable "green" seat,
security improvement through function integration,
no overcost compared to available solutions.
The project will be based on following innovative
aspects:
a detailed study of the material (rheology, microstructure, chemical structure) in order to incorporate
recycled polyesters (including amorphous PET from
bottles) into a technical, highly stressed component,
a new extrusion-compression moulding process for long
fibre reinforced thermoplastics, that will lead to
minimum degradation of material properties,
a new woven structure based on polyesters and glass,
that will lead to a cost effective solution for local
reinforcement of mechanical properties,
a seat frame design taking into account function
integration (e.g. safety belt anchoring) to fulfil the
latest European safety regulations,
the development of a seat frame that will be 100%
compatible with the existing polyester fabrics and
emerging polyester cushions leading to a mono-material
seat.
The final result of the research project will be
prototype parts that will be tested in accordance with
the European automotive requirements.
In order to make this project successful; the consortium
will combine the efforts of European industrial and
university leaders:
a car manufacturer,
an automotive seat manufacturer,
a polyester producer,
a glass fibre and woven structures producer,
a university specialised in composite materials and
associated processes,
a university specialised in composite parts design and
associated methodologies.