Colloquia

Summary

Ex-Core is a patented technology developed by Donkervoort Automobielen B.V. to produce carbon fibre sandwich components. Ex-Core is an innovative production process that utilizes an expanding core material to generate pressure, thereby shaping carbon fibre to conform to the mould's design when exposed to heat. This technique enables the production of exceptionally lightweight yet structurally robust components.

Currently, the powder and epoxy ingredients for the core material are manually dosed, which is labour-intensive and subject to human error. To optimize the production process, this thesis researches the opportunities to industrialize the dosing of Ex-Core ingredients. A design proposal for an ingredient dispensing system has been developed through comprehensive market research, mechanism evaluation, and testing of critical system elements. This established design proposal is deemed to provide the optimal balance between accuracy, capacity, material handling, and cost, as specified by Donkervoort. However, further developments are necessary to fully implement the design proposal, for which an estimated return period of approximately 2 years and 4 months is calculated. Once implemented, the dispensing system is anticipated to significantly advance the industrialization of Ex-Core technology