Projektdaten

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Development and evaluation of mechanical recycling value chains for thermoplastic composite materials (RecyComp)

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The market for long and continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastics (in the following abbreviated CFRTP) is growing, because these materials provide excellent weight specific mechanical properties and features other significant advantages such as short cycle times, storability, repeated meltability, good formability and the use of alternative joining processes enabling automated !arge volume manufacturing processes. During the manufacturing of CFRTP dry fiber waste (DFW) is generated. Additional ly, up to 30% offcuts and end of life parts with matrix material must be considered as waste stream. Today, the composite value chain is highly linear and the main disposal routes for composites are co-processing in cement plants or landfilling. For CFRTP mechanical recycling is a promising alternative. Even though individual studies regarding the mechanical recycling of CFRTP exist, there is still a lack of transparency on the cost, the ecological impact and the properties of the recycling materials coming from the available options and still room for innovative approaches. Furthermore, the recycling scope for DFW needs to be expanded beyond carbon fibers as glass fibers are readily available DFW streams, which are mainly disposed in landfills. Consequently, the first target of the projects is the pre-competitive development of alternative recycling approaches for CFRTP. The second target is a systematic assessment, evaluation, and comparison of different mechanical recycling value chains to identify the best options for different fiber reinforced components and DFW regarding ecological impact, costs and important material properties (e .g. mechanical properties). Based on the systematic assessment transparency on the evaluated mechanical recycling value chains is created and recommendations for the industry - especially small and medium sized enterprises (SME) - are derived.