PEATON TO DEVELOP NEW MATERIALS TO MANUFACTURE LIGHTER AND SAFER AUTOMOTIVE COMPONENTS ITC-20161122

• The project is presented as a great opportunity for the development of more economical and lightweight materials, whose final properties can be adjusted to size.
• Under the 2016 Interconnect Program, the project consortium is led by the COPO GROUP Technology Centre, and is completed by the companies COPO GALICIA S.L., SYSPRO and the ANTOLÍN-PGA GROUP. AIMEN and CELLMAT TECHNOLOGIES participate as collaborating entities.

PEATON “Application of eco-efficient processes to the development of new expanded polypropylene materials for automotive components” is an integrated project of industrial development and multidisciplinary character whose main aim is the manufacture Expanded Polypropylene (PPE) components that can be incorporated in structural and non-structural elements of the vehicle. The aims are to improve the passive safety and reduce the final weight of the car, aims that feature in all the road maps of the automotive sector.

These components will be manufactured through eco-efficient processes thanks to the development of new PPE materials (raw material). Thus, the project is presented as a great opportunity to create materials with custom properties and much more cheaply. With them one can achieve components that are lighter than the current ones and that deliver with the same mechanical performance, as well as improving the absorption of energy through the modification of the component’s cellular structure. . In this way, the materials can be manufactured adapting them to the needs of density or improvement of properties against impact, depending on the type of component to be manufactured.

Another of the innovations that PEATON will bring will be the development of new hybrid materials in which PPE foams will be integrated. Additionally, a mold control system will be implemented from which a much more efficient and energy-optimized production system will be obtained.

Inter-sectoral collaboration

The PEATON project, with a budget of 1.1 million euros and a total duration of 30 months, is part of the 2016 Interconnect Programme.

The consortium, led by the COPO GROUP Technology Centre, specialists in the manufacture of molds and foam formulation, is completed by COPO GALICIA S.L., expert PPE parts manufacturers; SYSPRO, leaders in the application of control systems to process optimization and the ANTOLÍN-PGA GROUP, specialists in the manufacture of passive safety metal components for the automotive industry.

This group of companies has the backing of AIMEN Technology Centre and CELLMAT TECHNOLOGIES, experts in the development of multi-material systems and process control and in the development and characterization of cellular materials respectively.