BIOSTRUCT

The project:

Currently, the use of bio-composites is limited to less critical applications that do not have significant requirements in terms of mechanical performance. However, the use of synthetic composites made from carbon or glass fibre has several difficulties in terms recycling and in terms of dependence on third countries. About 98% of these synthetic composites still end up in landfills and about 80% of the raw materials are currently manufactured outside of Europe. To improve this situation, the project addresses the challenges of using bio-composites for structural parts and aims to increase the range of applications in which bio-composites can be used. This will be achieved by developing an accurate draping process to control fibre orientation, by creating material models that capture the natural variability of the material and by integrating nano-structured, bio-based sensors for load monitoring. Through the increased accuracy and additional control loops in the manufacturing process the consortium expects to achieve predictable properties and constant quality.

Within the project use cases from wind energy and boat-building will be investigated, aiming at the manufacturing of a full size rotor blade and a ship hull to demonstrate the technical feasibility and achieving TRL7 for the manufacturing technologies. In addition to the end users, the consortium consists of partners from automation, machine building, measurement technology, material manufacturing and simulation software to cover all aspects of the developments. Based on the predicted growth of the bio-composites market, which is expected to increase by a factor of 2.5 by 2030, the consortium expects a market potential of about 100M€ by 2030.

CIDETEC’S role in the project:

CIDETEC Surface Engineering’s Polymers & Composites unit will work in BIOSTRUCT project with the aim of developing biobased “De-bondable adhesive” based on its own patented 3R.

CIDETEC will contribute to develop a structural bio-based epoxy adhesive and a bonding process based on their 3R (recyclable, repairable and reprocessable) technology for Amura Use Case (Electrically powered boat).

CIDETEC will work on the study and optimization of the best 3R bio-based adhesive formulation by combining NOMA’s bio-based epoxy resins with the selected dynamic hardeners.

CIDETEC will also analyse suitable quality control methods to ensure a high quality standard of the bonding.