Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPTResearch project "VIBRIO"
New materials and processes for the plastics processing industry
Conventional fiber-reinforced plastics such as carbon or glass fibers have long been the established standard in industrial production. They have proven their worth in terms of form and function, but are not sustainable. New biological materials made from renewable raw materials have the potential to replace raw materials that generate high emissions during production. With new bio-based fiber and plastic materials, innovative manufacturing processes must be developed to process them into high-quality fiber-reinforced plastics. The digitalization of production processes also helps to make the entire production process more efficient. In the "VIBRIO" research project, the project partners are developing a vibration-supported production process for highly functional composite components made from biomaterials. The production data is recorded in a digital twin and used for process control and quality assessment.
New process for combining natural fibers and biological plastics
In the fiber composite plastics industry, the double-belt pressing process is used to impregnate fibers with thermoplastic material continuously and process them into a semi-finished product. The plastic is melted by heating and the process pressure causes it to flow between the fibers. In the "VIBRIO" project, the project consortium impregnates natural fibers with a biological plastic. In the project, the scientists are using a vibration-based process to improve the flow and wetting properties of the plastic melt. The production data flows into the digital twin of the component so that the project partners can determine the optimum processing parameters and apply them reproducibly.
Further processing and versatile use of fiber composite material
Once the fiber material has been successfully impregnated with the plastic, the semi-finished product can be functionalized in further processing methods such as tape laying, thermoforming and back injection molding. At the end of this process chain, the demonstrator component is a bicycle saddle shell. The basic technology developed can also be applied to other applications in the sports and leisure industry, the automotive sector or the transportation and construction industries.
In the project, Fraunhofer IPT is focusing its research on the processing and functionalization of the bio-based tape in laser-assisted 3D tape laying, thermoforming, the integration of measurement technology and data acquisition and evaluation in the digital twin.
Project coordinator
AZL of RWTH Aachen University
Project partners
- A + Composites GmbH
- Ergon International GmbH
- FEM-Composites GmbH
- Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT
- MITEX GmbH
- Netter GmbH
- SK Industriemodell GmbH
Funding information
The "VIBRIO" research project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWE) as part of the Lightweight Construction Technology Transfer Program (TTP LB).
Funding reference: 03LB3102B