The lighter a vehicle is, the less fuel it consumes and the less CO
2 is emitted. Lightweight materials that are strong enough to ensure passenger safety are also popular among manufacturers of cars and aircraft. Thermoplastic composites fiber-reinforced plastics that soften when heated are light, strong, easy to work with and easy to recycle. Certain components in aircraft fuselages and wings are already being made from this relatively new material. However, they are not yet in wider use.
The aim of ENLIGHTEN Enabling Integrated Lightweight Structures In High Volumes is to find a way to produce reliable entire structures using this material in a predictable, reproducible and cost-effective way. This €6 million, five-year project is being launched by the University of Twente (UT, Twente, The Netherlands) and Dr. Remko Akkerman, scientist at UT and the ThermoPlastic composites Research Center (TPRC, Twente, The Netherlands) as part of the Netherlands-based