The FORTAPE project, being let by CTAG is to last 3 years and has a budget of around €5 million. It will look into the manufacture of complex parts based on unidirectional tapes for the automotive and aerospace industries.
Along with CTAG the project also involves some of the big names in Europe, in all 9 partner companies have signed up and include big names like Arkema, Airbus, Ford and Fraunhofer.
The use of carbon and glass fibre unidirectional continuous tape reinforced composites are one of the most promising options to face new challenges demanded by the transport sector. However, at the moment, the manufacturing methods to obtain composite parts made of this hybrid material are not mature enough for a full industrial implementation.
Main existing barriers are related to the high consumption of resources and lower rates of automation. FORTAPE aims to solve these drawbacks through the development of an efficient and optimised integrated system for the manufacturing of complex parts based on unidirectional fibre tapes for its application in the automotive and aeronautical industry, with the minimum use of material and energy.