Our projects
The proposed project, CleanCoat, has a great potential to environmentally improve coating processes for high-value plastic products in an expanding global market segment.
The goal is to increase the process yield from 40 % to 80 %, thereby reducing energy consumption by 30 % and material use of oil based products with 50 %. Magu has got a global leading role in the field and as an example, year 2006 more than 20% of all manufactured mobile phones were painted by Magu systems. With the right combinations the systems are used even for other applications, such as in production for medical industry, building and automobile applications domestic as global. The system are all focused on low consumption of wet chemicals, low pressure of lacquer and “ the unique competence”, to handle small volumes of lacquer and spray geometry from extremely small nozzle diameters. New complex design, integrated parts and surface design, high gloss surfaces, functional surface design put enormous requirements on coating, and thereby focus the yield. The balance between input and approved products, the yield, is a most important issue. There are several examples on yield levels in the range 35-40%, which results in up to 65% rejections to waste. The value of the object at reject is in the range 1,25 SEK per object. The market potential in the consumer goods field is above 500 000 000 SEK.
Contact
Mats Andersson
Lund University has, during the predecessor to this project (DAMIA I) developed a material and a production technology for iron powder based soft magnetic materials that allows casting of magnetic cores for inductors, electrical machines etc with exceptionally low iron losses but a modest relative magnetic permeability. The material is referred to as SM2C.
Several prototypes are produced, in particular inductors that exhibit very good performance. In terms of size, losses, cost and noise emissions they outperform the best available products on the market today for high performance applications such as active power filters in the electric utility grid. Prototypes of electrical machines do have lower torque density [Nm/kg] than well designed conventional machines due to the lower permeability, but possibility to seemingly almost unlimited power density [W/kg] due to the low iron losses. This is unique, and a paradigm shift in electrical machine design. The production process is today protected by a patent application.
This project, DAMIA II, is intended for exploiting the inherent benefits with the material and production method from DAMIA I by application development. In particular:
Integration of sensors, cooling circuits and inserts of other core materials components in the moulding process.
Development of an optimized winding insulation method suitable for the production method.
Contact
Tord Cedell
Mats Andersson
The project compices an environmentally sustainable system for the product realization and recycling of large, complex cutting tools (hobs) for gear manufacturing. Through the introduction of a new, high performance tool material (Carbide Steel), and by utilizing the unique benefits with respect to lean manufacturing and recycling, an entirely new tool technology can be realized. This concept will also bring environmental benefits regarding material utilization, energy consumption, environmental contamination and recycling. The prospect of a truly local material circulation, where the tool supplier/manufacturer with simple means can recycle used tools back to the original function, opens up opportunities for new business concepts. Further environmental gains can be achieved through use of the new tools, since high performance tool materials gives the potential to significantly reduce the use of noxious cutting fluids.
Contact
Jan-Eric Ståhl
Mats Andersson
Induction heating technology for industrial applications.
In the industry a lot of products are heated. It is used for many things among drying, heat treating, annealing, hardening, stress reliving and shrink fitting. A lot of this heating is done in big furnaces or ovens that are powered by combustion of fossil fuels or electricity. They are often expensive and have long startup times and lead times which contribute negative to the environment. The energy consumption can be heavily lowered by using Induction heating instead. Induction heating is a direct heating method, which means that you heat the product directly instead of heating for example the air around it. This is done by induced electrical currents within the product and can be done in any conductive material.
The Greenheat project has developed an Induction heater for heating punched products and thereby evaporating the oils necessary for punching. By evaporating the oil the cleaning step with a lot of chemicals is avoided and time is saved. It heats the products to 120 degrees Celsius during the few seconds it takes it to pass through the heater that have a width of 0.7 meters. This means that an old oven of 3 meters width can be replaced with an induction heater of 1 meters width. Induction heating is therefore easily used to replace other heating equipment when it gets old or when the capacity has to increase and more machines has to fit in the same line.
By using a new material Soft Magnetic Moldable Composite (SM2C) the heater can use air cooling instead of liquid cooling because the direct contact between conductor coil and SM2C material. The SM2C makes it possible to mold a shape so that the surface area is maximized to facilitate a good heat transfer. Because it is moldable in easy to make moulds it is also cheap to make small series of a product. This also makes it suitable for inductors that have to be custom made without having to pay a fortune for it.
Contact
Tord Cedell
Mats Andersson
Induction heating is the most energy efficient industrial heating technology, but so far technical limitations has stopped the introduction in many processes, due to the difficulties in heating large flat surfaces, curved surfaces and, perhaps most importantly of all, the difficulties in achieving a uniform heat distribution. The recently closed ProEnviro project Greenheat showed that the developed technology at Lund University has a great potential to solve these problems. A new innovative heating concept, which will be patented, forms the base of the suggested RaUCH project. A successful project will present a fundamentally improved uniformity of the heating pattern of a surface. The other key technology in the RaUCH project is the rapid cooling. This will be achieved by a technology that is rather well established in some applications, but not together with inductive heating. A third activity is the development of new compound materials, which will provide the necessary structures (porous, magnetic etc) in order to combine the heating and cooling technologies. A full integration will provide a very effective tool with unprecedented properties. The suggested project has a very large potential to provide entirely new conditions for many industrial processes; considerably reduced energy consumption, an increased production rate and productivity, products with new and improved properties. The technical goals for the project are to improve the energy efficiency of a typical process with 90% and at the same time reduce the cycle time with 90%.
Contact
Mats Andersson
A new technology has emerged the last decade, based on a new group of materials; Soft Magnetic Composites (SMC), instead of laminated steel that facilitates production of products with more integrated, smaller, lighter, less costly and highly efficient electromagnetic machines. The application of this technology is a change of paradigm regarding integrated design and energy efficiency. The project Rotocast focus on a new group of SMC’s; Soft Magnetic Mouldable Composites (SM2C). With this material it is possible to produce electromagnetic components using rotation or gravitation moulding technology, the RotoCast technology. This new production method allows for integration of parts, coils etc, but also has a potential for automated low cost and high rate production. It is possible to reach impressive magnetic, mechanic and thermal properties in rotation moulded parts. High performance inductors and electrical motors has been produced by RotoCast and evaluated.
The maximum permeability of SM2C is in the order of 30. This is ideal for inductors, since the storage of reactive energy is distributed uniformly. The total production cost of this type of inductors can be very low compared to conventional ferrite/litz solutions. Since the high frequency magnetization losses are low and the thermal conduction is considerable, there will be no hot-spots.
For motors, the low permeability gives lower torque compared to conventional laminated motor structures. This is compensated by increasing the radius of the motor, and since the high-frequency magnetization losses are low the number of poles can be made very high, thus reducing the magnetic material giving the motor high torque-to-weight ratio.
Contact
Mats Alaküla
Project leader
mats.alakula@iea.lth.se,+46 46-2229284
Tord Cedell
Mats Andersson
Metal cutting operations represent some of the most value adding processes in the manufacturing industry and somewhat constitute the backbone of any industrial nation. This is especially true for Sweden, having two of the worlds leading tool companies, combined with a substantial amount of product developing and manufacturing companies, including their subcontractors. In order to optimize and improve the efficiency of a cutting process, regarding for example part cost and machining time, coordinated development activities are necessary. These activities concerns multidisciplinary questions within all product processes, from design to delivered product.
The project ShortCut2 shall lead to industrially implemented rules and guidelines, in order to find optimal process conditions during metal cutting operations, where also the product development phase is considered. The results from the ShortCut2 projects will be illustrated by demonstrators at the collaborating companies. An objective is to be able to show examples of direct cost savings exceeding 20%, by establishing a formalized cooperation between design and production activities. Another objective is to provide means to balance between “costumer value” and increased production costs, for example when introducing more high performance materials. ShortCut2 will also form the basis for advanced courses and expert seminars for academy and industry, focused on the specific research field. Considering the great demands for literature on these subjects, this will be written and produced in a similar way as after ShortCut1.
Contact
Jan-Eric Ståhl
The main goal Simuparts deal with the issues that need to be solved in order to create coherent VME tools for sub-assemblies/products made in advanced lightweight sheet materials. In a previous project, ProViking Simuform, initial steps of the enabling technologies where made for single part production. In this project the objectives has been extended to assemblies of parts (SimuPARTs) and to further improve VME tools e.g. using improved friction models for novel textured sheets and dies as well as improved material models.
The project consortium has identified a number of enabling technologies to support the main goal:
Fast and robust numerical forming simulations, Improved material models, Models for variable friction, Methods and tools for optimizing and simulation of varying sheet and tool surface textures and their influence on wear and friction, Methods- and tools for verification of parts geometry after forming, A verified model for spot welding simulations, A method to find the optimal clamping and welding sequence of an assembly, A method to account for variations and uncertainties in material and processes as well as finding an assembly that is both optimized and robust , Influence of part assembly sequence, Results transfer between different processes, and ultrasonic vibration grinding to manufacture optimized tool textures.
The enabling technologies will be developed in three individual but connected work packages as described in more detail below.
The project is aimed at developing of physical- as well as virtual demonstrators to verify- and facilitate knowledge transfer of the enabling technologies internally among partners as well as externally.