Technologies - Fibre reinforced polymers

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Fibre reinforced polymers

evaluated

Fibre reinforced polymers are composite materials consisting of fibres dispersed in a continuous matrix phase. Due to a number of characteristic advantages, fibre reinforced polymers have a great future potential for railways and other transportation technologies. Because of their low weight they can make a decisive contribution to the design of light-weight vehicles.

Technology field: Mass reduction



General information

General criteria

Environmental criteria

Economic criteria

	Vehicle - fix costs: medium
		Material costs of fibre-reinforced polymers are still relatively high but have already dropped considerably in the past and are expected to drop further. The same is true for manufacturing costs.

	Vehicle - running costs: significant reduction
		(no details available)

	Infrastructure - fix costs: none
		(no details available)

	Infrastructure - running costs: unchanged
		(no details available)

	Scale effects: high
		(no details available)

	Amortisation: not applicable
		(no details available)

Application outside railway sector

	Status of development outside railway sector: in use
		Fibre-reinforced polymers are already widely in use in aerospace, construction and cars.

	Time horizon for broad application outside railway sector: now
		(no details available)

	Expected technological development outside railway sector: highly dynamic
		The technological development potential of fibre-reinforced polymers is very high. In early decades (when aerospace sector was major driver for development) a clear emphasis was placed on material performance rather than cost issues. In more recent years increased efforts have been put into reducing manufacturing costs and design time of these materials. For example the Manufacturing Science and Technology Program of the US Department of Defence has defined as key goals to reduce design time by 75%, material costs by 25% and fabrication time by 50%.

	Market potential outside railway sector: high
		(no details available)

Overall rating

	Overall potential: promising
	Time horizon: mid-term
		Fibre reinforced polymers are one of the keys to further progress in light-weight construction in railways. Due to their very good performance in many areas, in mid term fibre reinforced composites will become a standard substitute for steel and other materials in many railway applications. Whereas non-structural components made from fibre reinforced materials play a growing role in railway vehicles, most structural applications require more R&D efforts. Railway operators can give however little impulses in this field but rather depend on the developments in mass markets (automotive etc).