Development of sustainable composite sandwich-panels using recycled and renewable materials for vehicle chassis construction at high volumes.

使用回收和可再生材料开发可持续复合夹层板，用于大批量车辆底盘构造。

• 批准号: 10076029
• 金额: $ 6.37万
• 依托单位: AMARA AUTOMOTIVE LTD
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Grant for R&D
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10076029
• 关键词: Development; sustainable; composite; sandwich; panels

Our project with Innovate UK will develop a new and sustainable composite sandwich panel construction, for primary vehicle structures, like the chassis. Our innovation is in the materials we are using, the design for manufacture and the method we use for construction.A composite is a material made up of 2 or more separate parts, in this case a high strength fibre and a resin which stiffens and strengthens it once hardened. A composite sandwich panel is a structure made from two thin sheets of composite material sandwiched on either side of a lightweight core resulting in extremely high stiffness for very low weight.Our innovative sandwich panel technology uses sustainable UK materials. This composite fibre material is waste from manufacturing processes in other industries and would usually go to landfill as non-biodegradable waste. Using waste materials significantly reduces our materials cost, by 85%-95%. This is important, as it makes large/commercial scale production of composite sandwich panels a viable reality.Current vehicle manufacture is costly, both monetarily and emission-wise. Our use of recycled lightweight materials reduces cost and emissions both during manufacture but also during use, as lower vehicle weight gives lower emissions and increased range. By using flat sandwich panels rather than monocoque construction we reduce the need for specialist equipment, extra consumables that produce waste plastic, and excessive labour. These alterations mean we have further cut the emissions of our production and reduced the input costs for manufacture even more.Even though these materials are recycled/sustainable, and the application of them is possible at a considerably lower cost than standard materials, we can use them to create an end product that has a higher stiffness to weight ratio than that of normal vehicles. That means that they are lighter, and stronger than they would be with conventional metal production methods.These materials and method of production will prove their sustainability and affordability with the release of our first product, the Elecy. The Elecy is a safe 4-wheeled ebike with an enclosed body, offering the comfort of a car with the \>90% lower emissions of bicycles. The Elecy will be 50% lighter than our closest competitor, Podbike's Frikar 4-wheeled ebike thereby proving the efficiency of our process.Once proved, we would like to help spread the use of this technology, as we believe this provides a route to a sustainable, low-impact automotive industry.

我们与 Innovate UK 的项目将为主要车辆结构（例如底盘）开发一种新型可持续复合夹芯板结构。我们的创新在于我们使用的材料、制造设计以及我们使用的构造方法。复合材料是由 2 个或多个独立部件组成的材料，在本例中是高强度纤维和可硬化和增强的树脂它一旦硬化。复合夹芯板是一种由两片薄复合材料制成的结构，夹在轻质芯材的两侧，从而具有极高的刚度和极轻的重量。我们的创新夹芯板技术采用可持续的英国材料。这种复合纤维材料是其他行业制造过程中产生的废物，通常会作为不可生物降解的废物进入垃圾填埋场。使用废料可显着降低我们的材料成本，达 85%-95%。这很重要，因为它使复合夹芯板的大规模/商业规模生产成为可行的现实。当前的车辆制造成本高昂，无论是在资金方面还是在排放方面。我们使用回收的轻质材料可以降低制造过程中和使用过程中的成本和排放，因为车辆重量越轻，排放量就越低，行驶里程也就越长。通过使用平面夹芯板而不是硬壳式结构，我们减少了对专业设备、产生废塑料的额外消耗品以及过多劳动力的需求。这些改变意味着我们进一步减少了生产排放，并进一步降低了制造投入成本。尽管这些材料是可回收的/可持续的，并且它们的应用成本比标准材料低得多，但我们可以使用他们创造出一种比普通车辆具有更高刚度重量比的最终产品。这意味着它们比传统金属生产方法更轻、更坚固。随着我们首款产品 Elecy 的发布，这些材料和生产方法将证明其可持续性和经济性。 Elecy 是一款安全的四轮电动自行车，具有封闭式车身，提供汽车的舒适性，但排放量比自行车低 90%。 Elecy 将比我们最接近的竞争对手 Podbike 的 Frikar 4 轮电动自行车轻 50%，从而证明我们流程的效率。一旦得到证实，我们将帮助推广这项技术的使用，因为我们相信这为实现这一目标提供了一条途径。可持续、低影响的汽车工业。