Objective
Competition in bicycle production is killing Western European producers, due tothe low wages in Asia and Eastern Europe. The aim of this project is to developa production technology for mass production of bicycle frames to customerdemand, with increased flexibility compared to production today so Europeanproducers stay competitive. Therefore in this project it is proposed to: - increase the flexibility in frame geometry without lugs by using brazed joints having increased strength at wider gaps e.g. between 0 and 1 mm, - develop brazes suitable for brazing those joints at temperatures of around 800 - 900°C, a temperature range suitable for high tensile strength steel tubing, - developfaster tube preparation techniques like milling (high speed), shearing or lasercutting to machine varying angles at the butting end of the tube to be brazedto another, - develop flexible brazing fixtures to enable torch brazing ofmost frame geometries desired, The development of this technology will make theEuropean bicycle producers more competitive in the domestic and world markets. The expected savings for the European bicycle industry on an annual basis will be as high as 10.3 million ECU. Equal savings may be expected in the productionof furniture (chairs) and brazing of steel tubing for the production of heatexchangers.
Fields of science
Not validated
Not validated
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
EAW - Exploratory awardsCoordinator
7300 AA Apeldoorn
Netherlands