Energy Efficient Manufacturing of Lightweight Composite Architected Structures for Transporation Vehicles

Default ARPA-E Project Image

Program:
OPEN 2021
Award:
$2,500,000
Location:
Newark, Delaware
Status:
ACTIVE
Project Term:
09/13/2022 - 09/12/2025
Website:

Critical Need:

Carbon fiber composites offer some of the highest strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios among all structural materials and can provide weight reductions up to 70% and corresponding fuel savings during the lifetime of a vehicle when used to replace traditional structural materials such as steel. Most of these materials have either a high cost or performance issues, however. Composites manufacturing challenges such as low process throughput, complex and multiple processing cycles, intensive energy consumption, low part design flexibility, and poor quality control can lead to high costs and variable performance. These limitations can limit the use of lightweight advanced composites especially for small-format, complex-shaped components.

Project Innovation + Advantages:

The University of Delaware (UD) will develop the Composite Architected Materials Processing (CAMP) technology to enable fast, energy-efficient composite manufacturing with a complex 3D geometry formation capability to construct efficient, reliable, and cost-competitive structural materials for air and ground transportation vehicles. With their high strength-to-weight ratios, carbon fiber-reinforced composites have strong potential for lightweighting in structural applications to replace steel and aluminum. UD’s CAMP technology combines an energy-efficient carbon fiber reinforced thermoset composite manufacturing technique called localized in-plane thermal automation with tailored universal feedstock for forming. CAMP could greatly reduce the energy intensity of carbon fiber composites manufacturing, drive down the total cost, and reduce structural weight.

Potential Impact:

UD will develop CAMP to offer a rapid economical fabrication process of composite architected structures to achieve high-volume, cost-effective, lightweight, and energy-efficient vehicle structural components.

Security:

Compared with state-of-the-art processes, CAMP would reduce the energy intensity of carbon fiber composites manufacturing by 20%, total cost by 65%, and weight by 40-60% without compromising stiffness or strength, expanding the use of composites as primary structural components for vehicle applications.

Environment:

When combined with structural optimization, composite architected structures are expected to reduce air transportation vehicle weight up to 80%, improving fuel economy and reduce transportation’s contribution to climate change from carbon dioxide emissions.

Economy:

The CAMP technology will significantly impact the vehicle industry by revolutionizing different aspects of composites, including using raw materials from low-cost carbon sources and a rapid economical fabrication process capable of achieving high-volume, cost-effective structures.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Philseok Kim
Project Contact:
Kun Fu
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
kfu@udel.edu

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Release Date:
02/11/2021