FENICE

Project summary

FENICE aims at demonstrating that commercially available raw materials can be combined into innovative prepregs, unlocking a disruptive evolution in the automotive sector: (i) reactive hybrid (thermoset and thermoplastic) resins, (ii) biomass-derived PFA, associated to Al foils, for fire resistance, and (iii) inorganic matrix composites, cured at low temperature. The materials developed in FENICE are used to achieve weight reduction in comparison to steel battery boxes, using Fiber Metal Laminates (FML) and innovative composites, instead of light alloys with several advantages in terms of sustainability & safety. The project develops prepregs as semifinished products, for reducing manufacturing costs and increasing reliability. These prepregs are associated with thin metallic foils, with no structural function, so recycled Al can be used. Both prepregs and metallic foils can be circular-recycled, in line with EU Directives about EOL. Glass and basalt fibers are selected, to avoid non-recyclable and high embodied energy C-fibres, while several high sustainability resins are investigated, with specific focus on biobased resins. From the design standpoint, FEM modelling is carry out to support component engineering & validation.

Our role

In FENICE project Gemmate contributes to material and process development, and battery pack design by means of a multi-physics approach. In many situations, a composite laminate is designed based on the structural requirements, but there are some cases where other physical phenomena must be taken into consideration. There are two fundamentally different types of interaction between the mechanics in the laminate and other processes: those that occur within the laminate layers and those that occur with the laminate as a boundary. Among the physical processes occur inside the laminate, the thermal effects are significant. In this scenario, the thermal design is investigated in order to model the temperature fields and heat fluxes.