MANIFICA in a nutshell
The global ambition of MANIFICA is to set up the recycling chain of carbon fibre composites “from aeronautic waste to innovative composite parts”. The vision of MANIFICA is that high-quality recycled carbon fibres (rCF) will drive the recycling industry towards economic value. The carbon fibres recycling sector is considered in a systemic approach including all aspects, from logistics, recycling, production of ready to use semi-products, to manufacture new recycled carbon fibres based industrial demonstrators.
Full-scale waste collection (polymerized or not)
Full-scale waste collection (polymerized or not)
PAPREC
Industrial scale realignment and production of high quality semi-finished products
Industrial scale realignment and production of high quality semi-finished products
I2M Bordeaux
Aeronautical semi-structural demonstrators at scale 1:1
Aeronautical semi-structural demonstrators at scale 1:1
VESO
Life extension of “outdated" prepregs
Life extension of “outdated" prepregs
I2M Bordeaux / 'TORAY'
Life Cycle Inventory data collection
Life Cycle Inventory data collection
VESO
Dissemination, communication and exploitation
Dissemination, communication and exploitation
'TORAY'
TECHNOLOGY FOR RECYCLED CARBON FIBRES (rCF) ALIGNMENT
MANIFICA project uses the I2M rCF patented realignment technology to produce rCF semi-products with highly aligned long recycled carbon fibres. The technical, economic and environmental major benefits are :
- Usable on pieces of fabrics or on tow ends
- Long rCF (50mm to 250mm)
- High strength and very high stiffness rCF composites
- Opportunity to produce semi-structural rCF composite parts
- Easy to use and to handle semi-products (thermoplastic binded)
- Automatable implementation (soon available!)
- No fibre breakage: minimizing health risks
- Energy efficient process
- Suitable after solvolysis, pyrolysis or steam-thermolysis
Products
Recycled carbon fibres are turned into various semi-products that can be used to manufacture new rCF composite parts. Semi-products are easy to handle and ready to use in standard composite manufacturing processes (contact moulding, infusion, RTM…). A range of semi-products with a thermoplastic matrix is being studied for automated process (AFP, FRT). All the semi-products are made of aeronautical quality carbon fibres (standard modulus or intermediate modulus) and the fibre lengths are between 50mm and 250mm.
Currently available semi-products
Available at the end of 2022
Currently in-development
25mm tape + PA powder 50%w
400g/m rolls
UD fabrics 300 x 300mm + PA powder 50%w
1000g/m²
Demonstrators
Recycled carbon fibres should be chosen not only because of their low price and environmental benefits but above all for their specific mechanical properties. MANIFICA’s rCF semi-products are the only rCF semi-products that provide the strength and stiffness required to manufacture semi-structural parts. We are proving this by producing several demonstrators ; pre-series aeronautical parts at 1:1 scale.
Other applications : Engine bracket, wing foil, boat trapdoor, …
The manufacturing of these parts will be ensured by VESO concept, thanks to their expertise in the design of environmentally friendly composite materials.
The manufacture of aeronautical parts paves the way for the use of rCF in many other applications: railway panels, boat floors, automotive frames, windmill blades… This demonstrates that rCF are suitable for all fields of transportation and sports industry.
Moreover, recycled carbon staple fibres provide new properties to rCF composite materials, such as vibration dampening or the opportunity to manufacture highly curved parts which is proof of the high added-value of the rCF developed by MANIFICA.
Waste collection
Contact › Charles.kofyan@paprec.com
Collection and sorting of carbon production waste is being organized in France and soon throughout Europe. This is implemented directly at major aeronautical premises by our partner Paprec a waste collection and plastic recycling specialist across Europe. Polymerized carbon composite waste and not-polymerized outdated prepregs are collected. Four tons of waste have already been collected, sorted and treated by Alpha Recyclage Composite for matrix removal by steam thermolysis. Finally rCFs go through the I2M realignment process at the University of Bordeaux.
Life extension of prepregs
Prepregs are used extensively throughout the aerospace industry. Although manufacturers undertake great efforts to minimize storage time, offcuts and time out of refrigeration, it is estimated that 30 to 40% of prepregs are past their expiry dates and can no longer be used. Moreover, the covid-19 crisis has further amplified this phenomenon. Unused prepreg materials are either recertified according to the supplier’s protocols or, more often, sent to landfills.
One of the objectives of the MANIFICA project is to correlate physicochemical and processability measurements with the loss of mechanical performance, in order to point out the actual aging effects. This study will lead to a simpler recertification procedure, which will be useful to extend the life of expired prepregs and propose new reuse scenarios, outside the aeronautical field, thus avoiding landfill.