SGL Group has been awarded just under €1 million from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to develop a new type of customised carbon fibre for thermoplastic applications.
The research project linked to the funding was launched back in April this year and will run until June 2017. The goal of this research project is the development of a carbon fibre with significantly increased elongation and an optimised surface structure adapted to the existing sizing system.
The total funding for this project of €2.9 million has been allocated as part of the BMBF’s Leading-Edge Cluster funding program, in which, as one of fifteen technology networks in the Germany-wide initiative, leading-edge cluster MAI Carbon (Munich, Augsburg and Ingolstadt) supports promising projects for the development of carbon-fibre composites.
The MAI CaFeE research project under the management of SGL Group is also being promoted by the two project partners, the University of Augsburg and the BMW Group. The Chair for Experimental Physics II at the University of Augsburg will assist in analysing the structure and properties of the new fibre as it’s being developed by SGL Group. To guarantee a timely test in a surrounding close to the final application, the newly developed carbon fibre will be tested by SGL partner BMW.
Thermoplastic fibre composites as a new type of material class offer several new opportunities for the application and processing of carbon fibre materials. They enable shorter cycle times, weldability, reparability and re-use, thereby offering the customer cost and processing benefits.