Doctoral Network on Enabling Scaled Production of Durable Natural Fibre Components: ENDURE

Programme(s): HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Topic(s): HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01-01 - MSCA Doctoral Networks 2024

Funding Scheme : HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN - HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral Networks

Call for proposal: HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01

Grant agreement ID: 101227649

Project description:

Network on natural fibre-based materials and moulded fibre products manufacturing
The European moulded fibre products (MFPs) sector leads in technology and supports sustainable growth. However, the industry faces a shortage of highly-skilled knowledge personnel. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the ENDURE project will train 12 doctoral candidates in natural fibre-based materials engineering, MFP design and digital manufacturing technologies for the natural fibre industry. The training will focus on the behaviour of new natural fibre materials (NFMs) and their applications in MFPs. The project will innovate in NFM processing using agricultural waste and recycled MFPs. It will design new production equipment for MFPs, develop optimisation models with AI/ML techniques, and implement sensors and digital twins, expanding the use of fibre-based materials from 2D packaging to 3D products.

Objective

The European moulded fibre products (MFP) manufacturing sector has global technology leadership. Job creation and sustainable growth in this sector contributes to the Green, Circularity and Digital Transition of the European economy. To succeed on the ambitious objectives set in the European Green Deal, the European natural fibre material (NFM) processing industry and the European moulded fibre products manufacturing industry must have access to a new generation of innovative, entrepreneurial, highly skilled research-oriented cross-disciplinary engineers. The ENDURE doctoral network aims to train 12 Doctoral Candidates on cross-disciplinary topics of: (i) natural fiber-based materials engineering; (ii) product design and production engineering with fiber-based materials; (iii) digital manufacturing technologies and Industry 4.0 for the natural fiber industry. The eventual hybrid cross-disciplinary profiles of the DCs of ENDURE are currently extremely rare or not available as existing doctoral programmes in EU focus only on the individual aspects. Manufacturing firms dealing with the fibre materials thus currently suffer the lack of skilled personnel.
A detailed understanding of the behaviour of new NFMs in production and design implications for MFPs will be developed within ENDURE. The project will foster innovations in NFM processing (using agricultural wastes, short fiber sources like eucalyptus, and recycled MFPs), in design and assembly of new production equipment for MFPs, in modelling solutions (both multiphysics and AI/ML based) for optimizing production, and deployment of sensors and digital twins. The methods will be used for demonstrator MFP production across five industry sectors.
Successful completion of ENDURE will (i) expand the use of fibre-based materials from 2D packaging to 3D products; (ii) adopt the relevant digital technologies for the engineering of natural fibre-based products; (iii) digitalize the fibre-based materials moulding processes.