Outcomes of MADMAX the European network on composites for transport applications
Résumé
Within the European Union, road transport is responsible for about 20% of all CO2 emissions. To reduce these gas emissions, the European Union is introducing stringent standards defining the acceptable limits for exhaust emission of new vehicles sold in EU member states. Thus, transport industries have to develop lightweight vehicles maintaining quality and safety in order to comply with these stringent gas emission regulations. Composites are offering the possibility to build lightweight structures with an important capacity of energy absorption, but they are still relatively new material. Their mechanical behavior is not fully understood and mastered, and manufacturing processes remain principally manual work and simulations as well as monitoring systems have to be adapted for composites. As composites appear to be promising materials for transport sectors, the European Commission supported the MADMAX project (Advanced material Textiles for Reinforced Structures for Complex Lightweight Applications) which contributes to the development of a European ?Know-How? platform and database for excellence in high performing fibers and resins, textile reinforcing structures and sensor monitoring composite structures, fostering the transfer of scientific results to civil transport markets and especially to SME's. The objective of the MADMAX project was to organize a cluster of private and academic laboratories supported by key manufacturers from transport sectors and to investigate the possibility of benchmarking specific composites. The main outcomes of this project will be presented. Raw materials, textile reinforcement structures, characterization methods, modelling methods for manufacturing processes and service life simulations, manufacturing processes, joining techniques, and structural health monitoring of composites were the issues covered by the project.
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