PRESS REALEASE

November 2018

EMMA will develop lightweight low-cost multi-material structures for the automotive industry

• In the EMMA project, hybrid polymer-metal composite structures will be developed with the objective of replacing components made from more traditional materials at a competitive cost.

• Framed in the ConectaPEME Programme 2016, the project consortium is lead by LEAR CORPORATION and completed by companies such as RCASTRO, PLASCIES, UNTHA y DEMSU. AIMEN participates as a collaborative entity.

• The new multimaterial structures developed will allow the reduction of the weight of the vehicle by 30-40% while maintaining its mechanical characteristics.

EMMA is an integrated project of a strategic nature, in which novel technologies for the manufacture of multimaterial structures of great interest to the automotive sector will be developed, both in Galicia and internationally.

Its main objective is to develop hybrid polymer-metal composite structures (PMH) that will be integrated into a unique subset for the replacement of automotive structural components made of traditional materials. In this way, it will be possible to achieve at a competitive cost, a weight reduction of 30-40% while maintaining its mechanical capabilities through localized reinforcement by means of suitable design composite inserts from regions subjected to greater mechanical stress.

In this last year, tasks of design, manufacturing and characterization of demonstrators have been completed, as well as the tools associated with them. Thus, it has been possible to validate the different manufacturing technologies developed and to establish the best manufacturing routes for both hybrid structures made up of thermosetting composites and those of a thermoplastic nature. Tasks carried out have made possible to have a comparison in terms of cost, mechanical behavior along with manufacturing parameters. It should be noted that important duties have been carried out to spread the results by participating in national conferences, as well as international conferences of recognised prestige, such as the European Composite Materials Congress (ECCM).

Intersectoral Collaboration

The EMMA Project, with a budget of 896.466,14 euros and a total duration of 34 months, is part of the ConectaPEME 2019 Programme.

The Companies participating in EMMA cover the entire value chain of the project. LEAR CORPORATION (formerly GA-PGA) project cordinator and leader in the manufacture of automotive components, RESINAS CASTRO, a company specialised in composite materiales, PLASCIES, with extensive experience in thermoplastic materials and their manufacturing processes, UNTHA, specialised company in solutions for recycling and, finally, DEMSU with great knowledge in the design of molds and custom tools.

EMMA also has the collaboration of the AIMEN Technology Center, with great experience in the proposed lines of research and where its main contribution is focused on the optimization of the metal-composite bond. In this way, AIMEN will investigate different joining technologies and different strategies to maximize its resistance, guaranteeing, in short, the performance of the  component.

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