Reuse of glass fibre reinforced composite (GFRC) parts for transport
Demo-case 1
Leader: GAIK; participant: ICAM
End-of-life polyester-based GFRC flat panels will be used to develop technical boards for the transport sector validating the reshaping technology developed in the project. A sandwich structure will be developed, and the reshaped panel will be used as an external cover of a polymeric core of a sandwich structure.
Reuse of carbon fibre reinforced composite (CFRC) parts for mobility
Demo-case 2
Leader: EDAG; participant: RSC
The utilisation time of vehicles is short in comparison to other machines. So the resources are not used efficiently. The basic concept of the demo-case is to define the basic structure of a vehicle that can be reused over several vehicle lives. The basis of this examination will be the tractor unit of the EDAG Citybot – an autonomous transport system for the inner city. Here, the high durability of carbon fibre composites can be exploited to achieve a lower overall footprint of the vehicle.
Reuse of carbon fibre reinforced composite (CFRC) parts for energy
Demo-case 3
Leader: REST; participants: INV, FRAUNH, RSC
Using the example of a rotor blade as part of a complete rotor system of a wind turbine, the demo case shows the extent to which a complete rethink of familiar design approaches opens up new potential for the circular economy with composite materials (not limited to CFRC fibers, since most parts of wind turbine blades are and will be in the future manufactured also with glass fibers). In order to create a general possibility to use EOL components or recycled fibers in highly loaded rotor blades of wind turbines, a design approach is chosen that allows the use and exchange of parts with different requirements and properties through a reversible segmentation of the rotor blade structure. In order to optimally exploit the potential for the use of EOL fibers/components, the design approach includes not only a single rotor blade but the entire rotor system.
Reuse of glass fibre reinforced composite (GFRC) and carbon fibre reinforced composite (CFRC) parts for aviation
Demo-case 4
Leader: GEV; participants: FRAUNH, RSC
The demo-case shows how CFRC EoL flat panels in use for aircraft interiors can help improving the sustainability of future cabin interior items by reuse.
Recycled carbon fibres (CF) for aviation
Demo-case 5
Leader: GEV; participants: TAU
The demo-case shows how CFRC EoL flat panels in use for aircraft interiors can help improving the sustainability of future cabin sidewall panels by reuse.
Smart recognition/sorting systems
Demo-case 6
Leader: IRIS; participants: ALL
IRIS will develop and build a recognition monitoring prototype bringing together LIBS (alone and/or in combination with other feasible photonic technologies, e.g. hyperspectral imaging, NIR spectroscopy), engineering aspects and the advanced AI and chemometrics techniques embedded in a customized software developed for the smart monitoring and/or sorting of FRCs with respect to fiber/matrix composition. Finally, Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) will be performed to guarantee that all the components are running properly and the monitoring system can operate in an industrial environment. The validation will be carried out in IRIS facilities through Site Acceptance Tests (SAT). Targeted consortium partners (i.e. GAIKER, among others) will need to provide samples in order to perform tests and validate the prototype.
Recycled carbon fibres (CF) for sport
Demo-case 7
Leader: HEAD; participants: Carbon cleanup, POLIMI, TAU
HEAD Sport GmbH will use rCFs from solvolysis and/or HVF to produce parts of rackets with a flat surface (typically, paddle/pickle-ball rackets) in the form of sheet molded compounds (SMC). As these rackets of such relatively new sports do have flat surface and on the other side are strung and experience therefore less stress, the use of recycled fibers combined with a different process technology seem to be an interesting possibility to research. For the demonstrator, both standard impregnating resins as well as newly developed bio-based and smart resins (T4.4) will be used and benchmarked through different demonstrators. For this demonstrator, HEAD Sport GmbH will use its facilities in Kennelbach for testing at coupon level and to produce prototypes.
Recycled glass fibres (GF) for sport
Demo-case 8
Leader: HEAD; participant: POLIMI
HEAD Sport GmbH will use rGFs (from WP4) as replacement for virgin GFs to produce a rGF-based fleece to be further impregnated and incorporated in the structural architecture of amateur skis. A ski is a complex composite part, and the load carry structures are mainly glass fiber woven or oriented nonwoven material. Yet especially in addition to the top layer, a fleece is often used to allow a three dimensional surface, as typically a wooden core is flat grinded.In contrast to the oriented layer, the fleece is not load carrying so there are fewer mechanical requirements from the product. Recycled fibers could be an option to be used. In case the fleece formation is not possible, a SMC mat is considered as fall back option to provide enough resin. For this demonstrator, HEAD Sport GmbH will use its facilities in Kennelbach for testing at coupon level and to produce prototypes.
Industrial coatings
Demo-case 9
Leader: BENA; participants: POLIMI, TAU
This demo-case aims at the introduction of the recovered organic fraction as starting material in the preparation of an already existing commercial resins, without modifying the final product characteristics. Benasedo will be provided with the organic fraction recovered by solvolysis experiments in various conditions (T3.2 and T4.4). It will consider these fractions as base components for coating formulations. Depending on the nature of the solvent and resin-type (polyesters or epoxies, partially or completely depolymerized), the fraction will be suitably repolymerized. The final product will be applied on metal substrates and will be evaluated in terms of film forming properties, hardness, adhesion and corrosion resistance with the goal to develop anticorrosion primers or base-coats.
