JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #147 - September/October 2022 - 44

FEATURE lightweighting
More information:
Mathijsen, D. Algae-based carbon fi bre offers
environmental benefi ts . (2019, 13 Aug).
Reinforced Plastics
https://www.reinforcedplastics.com/content/
features/algae-to-sustainably-produce-carbon-fi
ber/
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the German Federal
Ministry of Education and Research as a
funding body, which made it possible to start
the skeleton construction method with MAI
Skelett within the framework of MAI Carbon.
Thanks also go to the partners and suppliers
who participated in the research project,
pre-development and series realization.
References
[1] Final report MAI Skeleton for all project
partners: Reporting period: 01.02.2014Fig.
6: Results of the BMW iX's CFRTP windscreen using the skeleton design
the use of recycled carbon fibres in the
injection-moulded compound have
led to a 75% reduction of continuous
carbon fibres and are now a reality for
serial production.
Outlook
The high complexity of the construction
method is both a disadvantage and
an opportunity. For production, this
is easily controllable with the CFRP
inserts and injection moulding technology,
for component development
and design, this is currently complex.
In the future, generic design methods,
together with increasingly automated
component design, will offer high potential
both for reducing development
costs and times and for increasing
lightweight construction and cost reduction
opportunities.
At the same time, this also makes it possible
to develop complex components
with intersecting load paths, for which
solutions were researched and tested in
the MAI Multiskelett project [3].
A permanent challenge, also in the
use of renewable energies, is the high
energy expenditure related to the
production of carbon fibres.
In the medium term, the approach is to
use lignin and cellulose as precursors.
Further developments already show
that carbon fibres based on algae [4]
can be produced with a negative CO2
footprint.
With its skeleton design, the
BMW Group is also building on
sustainability for the BMW i3 and
providing an answer to the challenges
of the future.
30.06.2015. (2015). BMW AG. https://doi.
org/10.2314/GBV:865922993
[2] The MAI Carbon leading-edge cluster.
Composites United e.V. https://composites-united.com/der-spitzencluster-mai-carbon/
[3]
Blank, R., Hogger, T., Starke, J.,
Wehrkamp-Richter, T., & Winkler, P. (2017).
MAI Multiskeleton: multiaxial stressed
integral component in plastic injection
molding with load path-oriented pultruded
continuous fi ber reinforced carbon fi ber
bundles in skeleton construction: joint fi nal
report for the BMBF funding project: Project
duration: 01.09.2015 to 30.06.2017. [Bayerische
Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft]
[4] Stumberger, R. Building materials
of the future: carbon fi bers and plastics
made of algae. (2020, July 7). German
Architektenblatt https://www.dabonline.
de/2020/07/07/baustoffe-der-zukunft-carbonfasern-und-kunststoffe-aus-algen-algentechnikum-plastik/
44
jec
composites magazine / N°
147 September - October 2022

https://www.reinforcedplastics.com/content/features/algae-to-sustainably-produce-carbon-fiber/ https://doi.org/10.2314/GBV:865922993 https://composites-united.com/der-spitzencluster-mai-carbon/ https://www.dabonline.de/2020/07/07/baustoffe-der-zukunft-carbonfasern-und-kunststoffe-aus-algen-algentechnikum-plastik/ https://www.jeccomposites.com/mediakit

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #147 - September/October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #147 - September/October 2022