Complete list of materials, publications and activities of the RECOTRANS PROJECT.

[21/09/2021] - New composite truck suspension unit using a new type of material, a new design and a new product method to alternate steel
Recotrans, MBT’s first Horizon2020 approved project, aims to develop a new composite truck suspension unit using a new type of material, a new design and a new product method to alternate steel.     

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[22/09/2021] - c-RTM process of thermoplastic resins
Gestamp is an international group specialized in the design, development, and manufacture of highly engineered components for the main automotive manufacturers. We are continuously working in new materials and technologies to be used in our innovative products to produce lighter and safer vehicles, which offer improved energy consumption and a reduced environmental impact.  

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[29/09/2021] - Final Conference RECOTRANS: Shifting towards advanced, digital and greener technologies
The final RECOTRANS conference took place on Wednesday 29th September with the aim of disseminating the findings of our EU-funded project and inciting discussion surrounding our results. 

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[28/09/2021] - FINAL MEETING AND PROJECT LAST ACTIVITIES
The RECOTRANS consortium held its final meeting. The project partners, coming from 7 different European countries, met to finalize the execution of the last foreseen tasks. Special attention was given to the issues related to the preparation of the final report.

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[29/09/2021] - RECOTRANS project uses microwaves and laser welding to obtain recyclable composites for the transport industry
In keeping with its mission to respond to the social challenges of sustainable mobility, AIMPLAS has been coordinating the European RECOTRANS project, which has made it possible to develop new design-efficient technologies and solutions to reduce vehicle weight.  

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[01/11/2019] - RECOTRANS at 2nd CIRP Conference on CCMPM
RECOTRANS has participated in 2nd CIRP Conference on Composite Material Parts Manufacturing in Sheffield, UK. 

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[31/03/2020] - RECOTRANS article published at Compositi Magazine
Publish an article in a magazine in an opportunity to reach a broader audience. The RECOTRANS project has been published in the Italian magazine Compositi Magazine.  With the title of Resin Transfer Moulding and Pultrusion Manufacturing of Recyclable Multi-Material Component for the Transport Sector, Rocío Ruiz, Researcher at AIMPLAS, has explained the project, its objectives and and how they will contribute to the composite industry mainly in the transport sector.  The article can be read in two languages: Italian and English.

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[31/12/2019] - RECOTRANS holds its 30M Meeting Conference
The fifth consortium meeting of the RECOTRANS Project was held on the 1st October, in coincidence with its 30 months of life. 

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[30/04/2020] - SYNTHESITES will present RECOTRANS Project in SAMPE Conference
SAMPE Europe Conference 2020 will take place on 30 September-1st October 2020 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Our partner SYNTHESITES will present the project present the project and the advances in the process monitoring system and production platform were developed and applied successfully for the acceleration of the reaction and the intelligent process monitoring of the manufacturing of composites using a liquid reactive thermoplastic resin.

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[01/01/2020] - Meet FAR UK
Far-UK is a company based in Nottingham with over 60 years of experience in designing a product and process designer of composite materials specialising in carbon fibre components. The company’s focus on automotive design and manufacture.   Their work involves offering advanced services and solutions in all aspects related to improve materials and processes. Far-UK select the latest and best chemical, electrical and mechanical joining methods to ensure light and strong structures. They also understand how to make methods work in a production setting, delivering repeatable and reliable processes regardless of the materials involved. 

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[20/02/2020] - Meet CTAG
CTAG is an Automotive Technology Centre of Galicia offers advanced technological solutions to the automotive sector.  It supports the automotive industry in its permanent quest for continuous improvement and new technology for products and manufacturing processes.  CTAG’s modern facilities incorporate cutting-edge technology designed to provide world class service to the customer.  CTAG is recognized as a Technology Centre by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and has strategic alliances with other technology centres. It also participates in national and European associations such as STA, Ertico, Sernauto, etc. 

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[01/06/2019] - Meet Tecnoclad
Tecnoclad Laser Solutions is a company based in Valencia established in 2016 after more than 10 years of experience in laser material processing R+D at university and technological institute level. Their work involves offering advanced services and solutions in all aspects related to the use of lasers in the processing of materials. They offer their technological assessment and know-how to companies interested in implementing lasers into their production lines, making use of their vast experience in the sector.    

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[05/09/2019] - Meet Synthesites
Synthesites is a Greek company formed in 2008 for commercialising intelligent process monitoring and control technology in advanced composite manufacturing processes. They develop and manufacture a wide range of electronic equipment, sensors and software related to composite manufacturing for a wide range of applications, including in the energy, aeronautics and automotive sectors. They currently have offices in Piraeus (Greece), Bristol (United Kingdom) and Uccle (Belgium), solidifying their position as the world leader in industrial intelligent process monitoring systems. Some of the systems they develop include equipment and software for monitoring the status, temperature and viscosity of resins, amongst various other variables. They work in collaboration with major European research centres to further develop their technologies and adapt them to different industrial applications for various industries.  

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[01/05/2019] - Compression RTM of reactive thermoplastic composites using microwaves and cure monitoring
Scientific papers publications give the opportunity of showing promising results of research. This is the case of the paper called “Compression RTM of reactive thermoplastic composites using microwaves and cure monitoring” published in the Scientist Direct journal. This paper shows the advantage of three key drivers: the thermoplastic resin (ARKEMA), the microwave (MW) curing technology (Fraunhofer-ICT) and the on-line monitoring curing control (Synthesites). The combination of these aspects brings about improvements on the current manufacturing process of composite parts which use thermoset resin and long curing process. Apart from that, the advantage of the on-line monitoring of the resin curing process allow to optimise the process itself and obtain a high-quality product.

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[02/09/2019] - RECOTRANS & ULTRALI
How important it is the cooperation between different European projects? This is a controversial question nowadays since the objectives and results of them could be merged in order to provide different solutions to the industry. This fact can be found in the ULTRALI and RECOTRANS projects. Both are funded by National and European initiatives (respectively) in which the Gestamp project is the leader of the manufacturing of a composite door panel. In the case of the ULTRALI project, the indoor panel will be manufactured, whereas the outdoor panel will be performed in the RECOTRANS project. Therefore, the execution of these two projects will help Gestamp to fulfil the market commitment and become a more competitive company. Additionally, ARKEMA partner is also involved in both projects, which means that it will foster the cooperation between both partners not only within these projects but also beyond.

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[25/06/2020] - RECOTRANS at Composites in Rail 2019
RECOTRANS has been presented at the last Composite in Rail Congress in Berlin. This event met expert speakers from across the supply chain to evaluate and discuss the challenges and opportunities for composite materials in the rail sector. The conference covered key topics across rolling stock and rail infrastructure applications. RECOTRANS was introduced in the Material sustainability including recycling and bio-composites section. Not only the scope of the project was shown but also how the project will contribute to accelerate the state-of-the-art and which barriers would need to overcome to reduce the time-to-market.

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[10/04/2019] - RECOTRANS 18Months Meeting
The fourth consortium meeting of the RECOTRANS Project was held in coincidence with its 18 months of life. The meeting, hosted by both Istanbul Technical University and Mercedes Benz Turkey, took place in Istanbul during 3rdand 4th of April 2019. The first day, at Istanbul Technical University, partners could present and discuss about already finished Work Packages and the progress of the ongoing ones. Work package 1 was ended up in M18, therefore the final demonstrator designs were already completed. In the work package 2 new experiments were carried out in order to define the most suitable procedure for the laser assisted metal-polymer joining by Tecnoclad. The adhesion between the metal part and composite samples manufactured with different resins developed by ARKEMA were assessed. Besides, an extensive information provided by the computational modelling carried out by ITÜ of the novel thermoplastic resin and the long fibre reinforced composite provided a better approach of the raw material behaviour. During the work package 3 and 4 explanation, Fraunhofer ICT showed the evaluation of the numerical simulation of microwave (MW) field inside the mould for the RTM and pultrusion process. This is a key aspect in order to define the curing parameters with the MW where Synthesites and INEA will monitor the curing cycle. Additionally, the mould design for the three demonstrators started to be analysed (MBT-Far-UK, Gestamp and STAV-Polymec). In parallel, CTAG defined the relevant information for the LCA study and its economic analysis. Results from this assessment will show the economic costs of the new process compared with the conventional processes. The second day, at Mercedes Benz Turkey, partners had time for working in groups for the Automotive, Truck and Train demonstrators and, additionally, an exploitation workshop was held. In the forthcoming months, the manufacturing of moulds for the RTM and pultrusion processes will start alongside the integration of the MW. The next consortium meeting will take place on October 2019 at the Fraunhofer ICT facilities.  

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[29/03/2020] - RECOTRANS at JEC World Paris 2019
RECOTRANS was present at JEC World Paris 2019 by AIMPLAS. Our partner was an exhibitor at the fair and explained the Project to interested visitors. We had the opportunity to show the objectives of the project and how they will contribute to the composite industry mainly in the transport sector. Moreover, RECOTRANS´s partners AIMPLAS, SYNTHESIS and POLYMEC met and exchanged the last progress of the project regarding the train demonstrator.

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[14/02/2019] - RECOTRANS at Jornada Composites 360
RECOTRANS rollup was shown at Jornada Composites 360 hosted by AIMPLAS. AIMPLAS held the Composite 360 Congress on the 14th February 2019. The agenda was focused on the last and novel developments of the Composite Industry: efficient manufacturing, sustainable raw materials, recycling, etc. RECOTRANS project was shown as an example of the Factories of the Future and how the multimaterials, microwave (MW) manufacturing process and laser joining can meet the objectives of the Commission’s low emission mobility strategy.

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[30/10/2018] - International Conference & Exhibition on Thermoplastic Composites
Abstract, full paper and poster by ARKEMA and SYNTHESITES related to RECOTRANS project were accepted for International Conference & Exhibition on Thermoplastic Composites in Germany. As partners within the RECOTRANS project, ARKEMA develops a thermoplastic resin suitable for the microwave (MW) radiation whereas SYNTHESITES is in charge of the monitoring of the curing process of the resin. Both collaborations bring a great expertise to the project and will allow to achieve the objectives successfully: reductions at the manufacturing process.

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[15/01/2019] - Meet ARKEMA
  Originally part of Total Chemicals, the Arkema Group was established as a separate entity in 2006 as a global manufacturer of speciality chemicals and advanced materials. Their focus is on biosourced, lightweight materials, electronic solutions, chemicals, coatings and various other industrial specialities. The Group employ more than 20,500 employees and have a business presence in close to 55 countries in Europe, North America and Asia. High performance materials, industrial specialities and coating solutions are the Group’s main business segments, with the majority of the work in these segments corresponding to speciality chemicals for various applications. The majority of their work is conducted in Europe, however the Group is seeing the most growth in their business activities in North America and Asia/Australasia. They are the world leader in speciality polyamdes, photocure resins and thiochemicals and place between 1st and 3rd position globally for 90% of their entire portfolio.  

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[01/03/2020] - Meet INEA
  INEA was established in 1987 by the Jozef Stefan Institute in order to better apply the institute’s research results to the industrial process control and energy management sectors. Currently, the company has solutions implemented five continents and is the leading Slovenian company in industrial automation, process control, manufacturing intelligence, also offering industrial energy management solutions. INEA has offices in Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and the United Kingdom, and their experts are currently conducting research related to smart grid solutions, advanced control technologies and fuel cell/hydrogen technologies. They emphasise their customer-centric approach and their ability to adapt to individual customer needs, resulting from over 900 successful projects in the last 30 years in the above-mentioned fields.  

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[02/04/2018] - RECOTRANS TRIALS IN ARKEMA LACQ SITE (FRANCE)
In January 2018, first trails related with E150 vacuum infusion at RT. 20 plies of CF with E150 and 3% initiator were carried out, as well as the installation of the software and a short training, by ARKEMA and SYNTHESITES. 

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[01/06/2018] - MEET RECOTRANS PARTNER GESTAMP
GESTAMP is an international group dedicated to the design, development and manufacture of metal automotive components. The Group specializes in developing innovatively designed products to achieve increasingly safer and lighter vehicles, thereby reducing energy consumption and environmental impact.

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[25/06/2018] - 12-MONTH MEETING HOSTED CTAG (SPAIN)
The third consortium meeting of the RECOTRANS Project, coordinated by AIMPLAS, was held on the 4th October.

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[03/09/2018] - RECOTRANS TRIALS IN AIMPLAS
Last September first pultrusion trials at pilot plant level were carried out in AIMPLAS in collaboration with POLYMEC, ARKEMA, FRAUNHOFER ICT, SYNTHESITES, GESTAMP and STADLER partners.

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[28/09/2018] - MEET RECOTRANS PARTNER MBT
Mercedes-Benz Türk (MBT), which was established in Istanbul in 1967, is one of the biggest foreign direct investments in Turkey with a total investment volume of € 885 million and employs around 6.000 people. 80% of MBT employees are postgraduates and can speak at least one foreign language. Furthermore 4.000 people are employed in its nationwide dealer and customer service network. Daimler AG currently holds 67% shares in MBT.

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[30/10/2018] - RECOTRANS 12 MONTHS PROGRESS UPDATE
During first 12 months of RECOTRANS PROJECT, we have started working on the following activities of the project: Demonstrators design, technical requirements; Materials adaptation to microwave and laser joining technology and Microwave integration in RTM line and in pultrusion line.

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[06/10/2017] - RECOTRANS Project start
RECOTRANS Project has started on 01/10/2018. The objective of this project is to create a new manufacturing system for obtaining multi-material metal composites products suitable for the transport industry, obtaining high quality lightweight multi-materials at high production rates; reducing production cost, energy consumption and time to market and contributing to reduce CO2 emissions.

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[01/11/2017] - Meet AIMPLAS, RECOTRANS Project Coordinator
AIMPLAS, Technological Institute of Plastics located in Valencia, is a private, non-profit Association with more than 500 associated companies created in 1990. AIMPLAS is formed by +105 highly skilled professional, more than 65% with a Masters, Engineering or equivalent degree in Chemistry, polymer engineering, materials engineering or equivalent, including 15 PhD.

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[31/01/2018] - RECOTRANS Project releases its first public deliverable
RECOTRANS deliverable D1.2 Report on regulatory, standardization and safety issues has been published. In this public deliverable a complete survey on regulatory issues to be treated, internal policy as well as all standardization requirements and safety issues related to the transport industry is reported.

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[02/02/2018] - Meet RECOTRANS Partner STADLER RAIL VALENCIA
Stadler Rail Valencia S.A.U. (STAV) is a subsidiary owned 100% by Stadler Rail Group. Closely linked with the industrial history of railways and with the benefit of more than a century of experience, Stadler Rail Valencia is designing and manufacturing diesel-electric locomotives for freight and passengers services with proven components and high performances with total customer satisfaction. The core business also covers light rail vehicles such as metros, tram-trains and tramways. Stadler Rail Valencia is also supplier of bogies, for locomotives, trains and metros, for freight and passenger services.

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[09/03/2018] - RECOTRANS presented at JEC World 2018
RECOTRANS Project was presented at JEC World 2018 in Paris. JEC World is the biggest and most important world show dedicated to composites market. From raw material to processors and end-users, JEC World attracts each year in Paris, over 40,000 professionals looking for innovation, new partners and insight on their industry’s future. The event combines exhibitions, conferences, awards, B2B meetings and job opportunities, among others.

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[12/03/2018] - RECOTRANS holds its 6 Months Meeting
The second consortium meeting of the RECOTRANS Project was held on the 9th March, in coincidence with its 6 months of live. The meeting, organized by ARKEMA, was held in Paris, where the most relevant European event in the field of composites, JEC World 2018 was taking place. 

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This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 768737


                   




AIMPLAS, Plastics Technology Centre

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