MaTaInH2

Mobility concepts with locally emission-free engine systems are undoubtedly one of the main drivers of the automotive industry of the future. In this era of growing environmental awareness and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the search for efficient and environmentally friendly mobility options occupies a central place in the research and development of automotive manufacturers. In this respect, hydrogen is proving to be a promising alternative to the battery electric vehicles already available. The use of hydrogen as an energy carrier in mobile applications offers the perspective of significant advantages in terms of range and speed of refueling. A key aspect of realizing this technology is the pressurized tank, which must be able to store sufficient hydrogen under an operating pressure of 700 bar. At the same time, these tanks must be light enough to meet the requirements of mobile applications. The research project “MaTaInH2 – Material-efficient and cycle-time-optimized industrialization of H2 pressure tanks” pursued the goal of creating a competitive alternative to the current state of the art by using pre-impregnated fiber rovings, so-called towpregs. This project involved the new development of a Type-IV hydrogen pressure tank, which were designed from scratch and manufactured using a winding process. The special feature of this collaborative projectlay in the possibility of optimizing the individual process steps independently of each other by dividing the production chain into sub-processes. IVW plays a crucial role in this project, both in characterizing the reference materials and the newly developed towpreg from the department of carbon composites of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and in optimizing the winding process. A comprehensive material map was created that summarizes all relevant mechanical and process-related properties. To meet the requirements of a near-series winding process, the existing winding line at IVW was further improved for the processing of towpreg semifinished products. The findings from the production of prototype pressure tanks made from towpregs are being incorporated into the specification of an optimized industrial-scale winding equipment. In the course of the project, the production of almost 50 pressure tanks using conventional wet winding and towpreg winding created a broad database on the material behavior and processability of towpregs as well as the general production of hydrogen pressure tanks. The results from the winding tests and the burst tests showed the potential of the chosen holistic approach and the improvement of material and process quality. The cyclic endurance tests in accordance with the UN ECE R134 standard were also successfully carried out to ensure the fatigue strength of the tanks.

In the “MaTaInH2” research project, the project partners MAHLE, TUM and IVW were pursuing the objective of developing and evaluating the entire process chain of towpreg development under aspects suitable for large-scale production and deriving industrialization concepts from this.

• Lehrstuhl für Carbon Composites, der Technischen Universität München
• MAHLE Filtersysteme GmbH