Toho Tenax, the core company of the Teijin Group’s carbon fibres and composites business, has announced that its German subsidiary Toho Tenax Europe (TTE) will participate in a technology development project aimed at contributing to Industry 4.0, the German initiative for a fourth-generation industrial revolution.
The project, called iComposite 4.0, was launched by 10 leading German organizations in January 2016 with support from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
By participating in iComposite 4.0, the Teijin Group aims to achieve improved production efficiency and expanded applications for its diverse line-up of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials.
Production cost reductions
The goals of the project are to realize production cost reductions through innovations, such as 3D printing, resin-injection processes and intelligent-control systems to balance materials characteristics for minimized waste during production.
Each part is embedded with an RFID chip that stores information about its production history to support quality control and production-system flow.
In iComposite production, a part’s basic structure is produced by a fibre spraying technology in the first stage. To balance stresses, high-precision fibre bundles are then added. Resin transfer moulding (RTM) is used for the moulding process.
Website: www.innovationintextiles.com
