immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Anwendungen

  • New plastic protects against flames

    New plastic protects against flames

    Epoxy resins are resistant and versatile plastics. In combination with glass or carbon fibres, they are used, for example, to manufacture components for aircraft, cars, trains, ships and wind turbines. Such fibre-reinforced epoxy-based plastics have excellent mechanical and thermal properties and are much lighter than metal. Their weakness: they are not recyclable – at least not yet.

    Now Empa researchers led by Sabyasachi Gaan from Empa’s Advanced Fibers Laboratory have developed an epoxy resin-based plastic that is fully recyclable, repairable and also flame retardant – while retaining the favourable thermomechanical properties of epoxy resins. They have published their results in the Chemical Engineering Journal.

    Recycling epoxy resins is anything but trivial, because these plastics belong to the so-called duromers. In this type of plastic, the polymer chains are closely cross-linked. These chemical bonds make melting impossible. Once the plastic has hardened, it can no longer be deformed.

    The situation is different with thermoplastics, such as PET or polyolefins. Their polymer chains are close together but not bonded. Under the influence of heat, these plastics can be melted and formed into new shapes. The only problem is that due to the lack of cross-linking, their mechanical properties at elevated temperatures are generally not as advantageous as those of duromers.

    A new type of plastic
    The special epoxy resin that Empa researchers have developed in collaboration with national and international partners is actually a duromer – but unlike other duromers, it can certainly be melted like a thermoplastic. The key is the addition of a special functional molecule from the class of phosphonic acid esters to the resin matrix. “We originally synthesised this molecule as a flame retardant,” says Empa scientist Wenyu Wu Klingler, who co-invented the technology. However, the bond that the molecule forms with the polymer chains of the epoxy resin is reversible, i.e. it can be dissolved again under certain conditions. This loosens the cross-linking of the polymer chains so that they can be melted and shaped.

    Such materials, also called vitrimers, have only been known for about ten years and are considered particularly promising. “Today, fibre-reinforced plastics are practically impossible to recycle, except under extreme conditions that damage the fibres,” explains Wu Klingler. “Once they have had their day, they are incinerated or disposed of in landfills. With our plastic, it would be possible for the first time to put them back into the material cycle.”


    Their vision for the future, adds group leader Sabyasachi Gaan, is “a composite material in which the fibres and the plastic matrix can be completely separated and reused.” The researcher sees a particular advantage in carbon fibre-reinforced plastics, for example, as used in the construction of planes, trains, boats, cars, bicycles and more. “The production of carbon fibres requires a lot of energy and releases an enormous amount of CO2,” he explains. “If we could recycle them, their ecological footprint would be a lot better – and the price a lot lower.” In addition, valuable additives such as phosphorus could be recovered from the polymer matrix.

    Tailor-made material
    Fibre-reinforced plastics are not the only application for the new plastic. For example, it could be used to coat wooden floors, as a transparent, resistant layer that has good flame-retardant properties – and where scratches and damage can be “healed” again with a little pressure and heat.

    “We didn’t develop a single material for a specific purpose, but rather a toolbox,” Gaan explains. “The flame retardancy, recyclability and repairability are all there. We can optimise all other properties depending on the intended use.” For example, he says, flow properties are particularly important for the production of fibre-reinforced plastics, while exterior wood coatings must also be weather-resistant.

    To pursue these and other applications of the material, the researchers are now looking for industrial partners. The chances of commercial success are good: because in addition to all its other advantageous properties, the modified synthetic resin is also cheap and easy to manufacture.

  • NEST receives aviary for drone research

    NEST receives aviary for drone research

    A DroneHub is being set up on the NEST. As the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research(Empa) illustrates in a short video, it resembles an aviary. On a floor space of 90 square metres, a construction of metal tubes and mesh forms a cage with a height of up to eleven metres. According to an Empa release, the final construction will provide test environments for three research fields.

    For the first, 3D printing in flight, an experimental wall with interchangeable modules will be used to develop drones that fly and carry out inspection and repair work vertically. “The drones can, for example, detect and repair cracks without the need for elaborate scaffolding or endangering the safety of people,” explains Mirko Kovac, the head of Empa’s Sustainability Robotics research laboratory and director of the Aerial Robotics Lab at Imperial College London.

    The second application area, robotic environmental sensing, focuses on the interaction between drones and the environment. “You can place targeted sensors in nature and read the data with regular flights,” says Kovac. This is “very relevant” especially for energy plants such as wind turbines or dams, but also for collecting climate data in impassable and wide-open spaces.

    The third research area wants to develop rules and technological standards for the coexistence of robots and humans, for example for interfaces between buildings and flying robots. This concerns, for example, landing sites on or near buildings or the positioning of charging stations.

  • Oracle adds new analytics capabilities to Smart Construction Platform

    Oracle adds new analytics capabilities to Smart Construction Platform

    In construction, it's difficult to leverage data across applications to effectively diagnose problems, predict risk, and plan future actions. To address this challenge, Oracle today announced Oracle Construction Intelligence Cloud Analytics. The new solution combines data from Oracle Smart Construction Platform applications to give builders and contractors a comprehensive understanding of performance throughout their operations. With these insights, organizations can quickly identify and resolve issues and find ways to continually improve project planning, construction, and facility operations.

    "You can't manage what you can't measure," said Roz Buick, senior vice president of product, strategy and marketing at Oracle Construction and Engineering. “The new Oracle Construction Intelligence Cloud Analytics offering combined with the Smart Construction Platform's predictive intelligence engine and shared data environment gives our customers a deeper, holistic understanding of their performance. Now they can create unique data strategies that drive competitive differentiation. In this way, the construction industry will achieve Six Sigma accuracy, which is already found in other parts of the industry and in manufacturing today.”

    The Smart Construction Platform brings together capabilities from Oracle Construction and Engineering applications and third-party solutions in a common data environment with an enhanced user experience. The platform makes it easier for builders and contractors to collaborate to improve decision-making across organizations. Oracle is introducing the new analytics solution and other platform updates today at the Oracle Industry Lab in Deerfield, Illinois.

    “We are increasingly focused on finding new and better ways to use our data so we can gain further insights into project performance and risk,” said Brian Neal, project manager at Rudolph Libbe Inc. “The connection and the combining of data for analysis will provide the most comprehensive insight into our operations and help us understand trends in our business. It also allows us to find ways to streamline the delivery of projects to our customers.”

    Smart Construction Platform: people, processes and data in harmony
     The Smart Construction Platform brings together the core applications, processes and data building owners and contractors need to collaborate across project and asset lifecycles. This includes portfolio planning, bidding/tendering processes, contracts, schedules, project documents, as well as Building Information Model (BIM) collaboration, on-site activities, costs and payments. With the new unified experience, shared data environment, and cross-application interoperability, users can easily switch between applications and datasets while working on a single project. By synchronizing activities, resources, and data throughout each project and asset, the platform helps teams from different disciplines work towards the same goal with the same information.

    For example, the planning and project management capabilities sync design and site teams against a master plan, providing insight into both a unified schedule and the task data needed to get the right work done in the right place at the right time. So, should the date of an HVAC installation change due to an issue in the supply chain, the project manager will automatically receive the updated schedule information and can coordinate any necessary adjustments for the affected teams.

    In addition, the platform provides investment planners with accurate, timely data on project forecasts so they can coordinate with managers on budget requirements and adjust them as strategic priorities change. For example, inflation doubles the cost of the materials needed for a project. The project manager can pass these new actual amounts and forecasts to the planner, who can then make timely changes to the portfolio.

    The platform continuously learns and gets smarter using machine learning, so it considers past actions to highlight potential risks and support more informed decision-making. Oracle offers its customers a variety of networked functions. This includes:

    • Provide project managers with up-to-date schedule data so teams can align with planned delivery dates and other schedule requirements.

    • Joint planning (CPM schedule) with site teams (task plan) to minimize wasted time and resources.

    • Capital planning and project execution teams can share budget and actual cost data so both teams can confidently adapt to different situations as the project progresses.

    • Automatically store completed bid/request packages, as well as approved invoices and other payment materials, in company document registries.

    • Transparency for all stakeholders to jointly track progress, identify and mitigate risks, and efficiently manage changes throughout the supply chain.

    "Thanks to Oracle, we are improving coordination, transparency and control during project development," said Weronika Nowak, document control and IT manager at Mayflower Wind. “The ability to further connect our teams, processes and data across applications and all project phases increases efficiency. It also provides our staff with the information they need to easily manage change as we work to deploy critical energy assets.”