InThElekt research project

The aim of InThElekt is to research a new solution approach for the development of vehicle structural components in plastic sandwich construction with integrated electronic components for future electric vehicles. SimpaTec is supporting the project partners in the project with simulations.

InThElekt (Integral Thermoplastic Sandwich Structure Components with Adaptive Electronics for Electric Vehicles) is a research project funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK). The project is being carried out by a consortium of research and industry partners. InThElekt is a sub-disciplinary project that aims to develop a concept to replace conventional metallic vehicle structures with plastic sandwich constructions with integrated electronic components for electric vehicles. The aim is to reduce structural weight, thereby reducing energy consumption and increasing range. A major challenge here is to ensure that the heat generated by the electronic components is dissipated. This is because the structure is mainly based on plastics, which usually have low thermal conductivity. This problem is countered by innovative electronic potting materials, thermal management and interface concepts.
The load-bearing components are to be designed based on a technology that combines thermoplastic foam injection molding with thermoforming of continuous fiber laminates. SimpaTec supports the partners at this point with process simulations for the production of foam injection components and the coupling of process-related material properties (e.g. fiber orientation and porosity) with structural simulations.