Impact of Technology Developments on Cost and Embodied Energy of Advanced Polymer Composite Components
- Inst. for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), Knoxville, TN (United States); IACMI
- Dept. of Energy (DOE), Washington DC (United States). Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Advanced Manufacturing Office (EE-5A)
Within Manufacturing USA, The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, IACMI, is a partnership of industry, private and state universities, as well as federal, state, and local governments that are working together to benefit the nation’s energy and economic security. This diverse public/private partnership validates manufacturing technologies that respond to private industry’s need for faster and more cost-, material-, and energy-efficient composites manufacturing, including recycling at the end of product life. IACMI has set specific quantitative goals towards advancing the state-of-the-art in materials and manufacturing technologies for carbon fiber reinforced polymer matrix (CFRP) composites. The goals were set with respect to three targeted application areas, namely: automobiles, wind turbine blades and compressed gas storage tanks. The specific goals set for IACMI at the end of the first five years were to: (1) reduce the cost of productionized composite parts by 25%, (2) reduce the embodied energy in the production of these parts by 50%, and (3) increase recyclability of CFRP parts into useful products to 80% of the part being recycled. A baseline set of metrics representing the state-of-the-art at the start of IACMI (June 2015) were required to estimate the potential impact of the various technology development efforts towards these goals. Further, the actual impact on the baseline metrics as each project is completed needs to be quantified, considering the technology advances accomplished. These baseline cost and energy metrics are available on the IACMI website at https://iacmi.org/baseline-cost-energy. A special embodied energy estimator tool, developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), is available to the public online at http://www.energytoolestimator.com/, and has been used to develop the baselines as well as evaluate impacts from completed IACMI projects. This report describes the impact of two recently completed IACMI sponsored technology projects on the baseline metrics. In the first project, titled “Thermoplastic Composites Parts Manufacturing Enabling High Volumes, Low Cost, Reduced Weight with Design Flexibility”, a highly drapable, easily recyclable thermoplastic coated, near net-shape carbon fiber fabric was developed. The thermoplastic coated tow (CT) fabric was manufactured using a rapid fabric formation (RFF) process developed for textile manufacturing. The DuPont, Fibrtec, and Purdue University team that accomplished the development of this low scrap rate carbon fiber product form selected an automobile control arm to be built in a follow-on phase of the project as a demonstrator of the benefits of this technology.
- Research Organization:
- Inst. for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Advanced Manufacturing Office (EE-5A)
- Contributing Organization:
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Dupont, Wilmington, DE (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0006926; AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1437162
- Report Number(s):
- IACMI/0001--2018/2.5
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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