NEWS
Anniversary Celebration 25 Years of VHÖ / 50 Years of Wood Studies at BOKU
On November 17th, the project partner BOKU hosted the 25th annual general assembly of the Association of Graduates of Wood Management and Wood and Natural Fiber Technologists (VHÖ) and celebrated 50 years of wood management studies. During the event, the manufactured showpieces from the WoodC.A.R. and CARpenTiER projects were exhibited and presented to graduates and invited guests. The evening event was hosted by Dipl.-Ing. Christian Tippelreither from the project partner Holzcluster Steiermark. In a video message, Federal Minister Norbert Totschnig MSc pointed out the importance of the "wooden" branch of study for the Austrian economy and the key role of wood as a raw material in overcoming the climate crisis, which was taken up again and further deepened in the keynote speech by Prof. Dr. Andreja Kutnar, University of Primorska in Koper, Slovenia, entitled "Wood and Climate Crisis". Finally, the anniversary brochure 50 years of the timber industry and 25 years of the VHÖ was presented by Johannes Plackner, Chairman of the VHÖ, and the ceremony ended with a photo review.
17.11.2023
Vienna, Austria
Pictures 1-3: ©BOKU
Joanneum Research Conference "Green and Digital Transformation"
Yesterday, the impressive and with 700 participants very well attended conference of JOANNEUM RESEARCH under the title "Green and Digital Transformation" took place. In addition to an exciting program with keynotes by, among others, Univ.-Prof. DI Karl Rose, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Energie Steiermark AG and Member of the Supervisory Board of OMV AG and Ms. DI Jacqueline Erhart Lead of CC AD and Digital Infrastructure of ASFINAG MAUT Service GmbH and Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of AustriaTech GmbH, the individual institutes of JOANNEUM RESEARCH, including the MATERIALS Institute, which has been located at the Innovation Center W.E.I.Z. for 25 years, gave exciting insights into their research work. Interesting topic sessions, many discussions in the context of networking and an exhibition on the topic of "Wood in new applications" with partners from the CARpenTiER project sponsored by the Innovation Center W.E.I.Z. rounded off the program. The CARpenTiER-Consortium congratulates JOANNEUM RESEARCH for this exciting day and their valuable contributions for society to the green and digital transformation.
16.11.2023
Graz, Austria
Pictures 1-6: ©JOANNEUM RESEARCH / Suppan
Project-Presentation at the Science Day of the University of Technology Graz with the Topic: “New Worlds in Production”
The third science day of the University of Technology Graz “TU Graz – Science for Future” took place on-site at the Alte Technik Graz and consisted of various keynote lectures, pitch talks and poster sessions. In the frame of the Session “Biobased products and production” the CARpenTiER project was presented by Eva Graf from the TU Graz in terms of a poster, flyers and demonstrators about the forming, bending and joining of hybrid metal-wood components as potential application for the mobility sector.
More information about the Science Day at TU Graz: Science Day TU Graz
27.09.2023
Graz, Austria
Pictures 1-3: ©TU Graz
Moving On - ACstyria Mobility Congress 2023
From 26.09. - 27.09.2023, the ACstyria Mobility Congress took place at the Seifenfabrik in Graz under the motto "Moving On". ACstyria placed special emphasis on its strategic topics of digitalization and digital business models, innovative drive and vehicle concepts, autonomous systems, mobility services and decarbonized value chain. In addition to exciting presentations and discussions, the project CARpenTiER was presented at the exhibition the progress of the project was shared with experts from the industry.
Graz, Austria
26.09. - 27.09.2023
Pictures 1-2: ©ACstyria
Midterm Review of the Project CARpenTiER
Half-time of the project CARpenTiER - on this occasion the Midterm Review took place on September 19th with a review team consisting of auditors of the FFG, external experts on the project topic as well as participants from the Federal Ministry for Climate, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology and the Province of Styria. In an online meeting all previous results from the COMET project CARpenTiER have been presented by all scientific partners and with the active participation of the business partners. The external experts found the presentation very successful and were impressed by the consortium with its interdisciplinary and well-integrated value chain from the different industrial and research areas.
19.09.2023
Weiz, Austria
Pictures 1-6: ©Stadtgemeinde Weiz
Presentation of the Research on Forming and Joining of Hybrid-Metal-Wood Components at the FEMS EUROMAT 2023
The FEMS EUROMAT is the premier international conference for the latest advancements in materials science and technology in Europe. In 2023 the congress took place at the Goethe University located in Frankfurt, Germany. Eva Graf from the Institute of Materials Science, Joining and Forming at Graz University of Technology presented the research on the three-point bending behavior of hybrid aluminum-wood plates. Kevin Vitzthum from the Innovation Center W.E.I.Z. demonstrated a preliminary study on the feasibility of joining wood and steel with flow drill screws. The congress was another possibility to present the “CARpenTiER” project to the scientific community.
More information about the conference: EUROMAT 2023
03.09. - 07.09.2023
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Pictures 1-3: ©CARpenTiER/W.E.I.Z. / TU Graz
The Last Mile Made out of Wood - Fresh Ideas for a Well-Known Raw Material
The TU Austria Innovation Marathon took place for the ninth time as part of the Europe in the World Days of the European Forum Alpbach. International students developed products and proposed solutions for future-oriented tasks for innovative mobility concepts. The consortium of the COMET project CARpenTiER also participated with the question: "Think the unthinkable and reduce the use of plastic and aluminum in the automotive industry, rail transport and mechanical engineering by replacing wood." The students were able to find many new ideas for wood applications in mobility, such as floor mats or grab handles, wooden bicycles or e-scooters and got an impression of how the substitution of plastics and metals by wood as a lightweight application can shape the future of mobility.
More Information about the TU Innovation-Marathon: Innovation Marathon - Video Holzcluster Styria
28.08 - 29.08.2023
Alpbach, Austria
Picture 1-3: ©Holzcluster/Schmid
Event "evon up2date"
In the Garden of Generations in Krottendorf/Weiz the annual event up2date of the new project partner evon took place on 21st of June 2023. During the event, Thomas Krenke from the Innovation Centre W.E.I.Z. was allowed to give a presentation with the topic: "Digital transformation as the basis of ecological lightweight construction and the change of a classic woodworker on the way to Tier 1". In addition to this presentation Bernadette Karner from the Consortium Leader Innvoation Centre W.E.I.Z. presented the research field and the progress of the research project CARpenTiER.
21.06.2023
Weiz, Austria
Picture 1-3: ©evon GmbH
Geco Festival - Graz Becomes an Oasis of Sustainability
The Geco-Festival, Styria's largest sustainability festival, took place in the city centre of Graz from 02.06. - 04.06.2023. The programme ranged from a sales market on the main square and a clothes exchange to the annual Graz Environmental Circus, exciting panel discussions and a series of workshops. The "CARpenTiER" project was also presented to a wide audience by project partner Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz - Institute of Environmental Systems Science.
02.06. - 04.06.2023
Graz, Austria
Picture 1-4: ©Karl-Franzens-University Graz
Presentation of the Project “CARpenTiER” at MotionExpo 2023
The MotionExpo is a symbol for the merging of innovation, information and emotion on the subject of mobility. One year after the premiere, this format entered the second round as the largest vehicle trade fair and mobility platform in Austria. Numerous innovations and further developments characterize the image of the MotionExpo2023. And among this year's exhibitors, the "CARpenTiER" project was also presented in hall C, where the latest technologies of the future could be found. The partners of the consortium were able to have many interesting discussions with trade fair visitors. In addition, Dr. Ulrich Müller, project manager of the scientific partner BOKU Vienna, could inform in the frame of the panel discussion “Innovative Vehicle Development” about the advantages of wood for use this renewable material in the mobility sector.
More information at: MotionExpo
10.03. - 12.03.2023
Graz, Austria
Picture 1-6: ©CARpenTiER/W.E.I.Z.
Exciting Lectures and Discussions in a Casual Location
That was the Green Tech Innovators Club on October 18th, 2022 in the MAKERSPACE Carinthia, where a wide variety of future makers from the Green Tech scene from Styria and Carinthia met and exchanged ideas about a wide variety of innovations, project ideas and opportunities for cooperation. To this event the consortium was also invited to present the "CARpenTiER" project and the existing partner consortium. Representing the entire consortium, Bernadette Karner and Thomas Krenke from the Innovation Centre W.E.I.Z. and Christian Tippelreither from Holzcluster Steiermark were discussing after the keynote speech why wood can be a very good alternative for many new applications in comparison to conventional materials. Many thanks to the Green Tech Cluster for the invitation and the excellent event.
More information at: Green Tech Innovators Club
18.10.2022
Klagenfurt, Austria
Picture 1-3: ©Helge Bauer
Moving ON - ACstyria Mobility Congress
Congratulations to the cluster partner ACstyria on their 25th anniversary. Around this anniversary, the two-day “Moving ON ACsytria Mobility Congress” took place on 11th and 12th of October at the Redbull-Ring in Spielberg. The congress was characterized by numerous visitors, various exhibitors, exciting lectures and many opportunities for networking and interesting discussions. The "CARpenTiER" project was once again presented to a broad audience in this context.
A review can be found here: Video - ACstyria Mobility Congress
11.10.- 12.10.2022
Spielberg, Austria
Picture 1-4: ©ACstyria Mobilitätscluster / Picture 5-6: ©Holzcluster/Schmid
CARpenTiER at the S-LCA Conference in Aachen
Claudia Mair-Bauernfeind from the partner institute for system sciences, innovation and sustainability research at the University of Graz (KFU) spoke at the 8th international conference of S-LCA about the sectoral social risks of the wood processing industries in Austria. As part of her presentation, she looked closer into the wood value chain and previous research results. In addition, Mrs. Dr. Mair-Bauernfeind gave an outlook on further research goals and possible applications for business, science and politics.
More information about the conference: SLCA Conference
05.09.- 08.09.2022
Aachen, Germany
Picture: ©KFU
CARpenTiER at the International Wood Fair in Klagenfurt
After a few years of a break due to Corona, the International Wood Fair “Wood & Construction” took place again in Klagenfurt from August 31st to September 3rd, 2022. In the exhibition area of the Innovation Area, co-organised by the network partner Holzcluster Steiermark GmbH, the "CARpenTiER" project was also presented. With CARpenTiER the consortium is driving further steps in the industrialization of bio-based, lightweight-optimized wood-hybrid construction concepts, which was presented in Klagenfurt by the industrial partners LEAN MC and Glanzstoff as well as the scientific partners Virtual Vehicle Research GmbH, the TU Graz and the consortium leader Innovation Center W.E.I.Z.
31.08 - 03.09.2022
Klagenfurt, Austria
Picture 1-4: ©Holzcluster / Picture 5-6: ©Innovationszentrum W.E.I.Z.
Bending Deformation of Hybrid Aluminium-Wood Sheets for Automotive Lightweight Applications
NUMISHEET- Conference 2022 in Canada
Hybrid sheets of 1-mm-thick EN AW-6016-T4 aluminum alloy and 4-mm-thick birch wood were produced by adhesive bonding. Wood fibre orientations parallel as well as perpendicular to the rolling direction of the aluminum sheet were considered. After curing the adhesive, the hybrid aluminum-wood sheets with overall dimensions of 250 mm × 60 mm × 5 mm were subjected to three-point bending.
Hybrid sheets (i) as fabricated at room temperature, (ii) moistened at room temperature, and (iii) moistened at approx. 100 °C were tested. Two bending modes were investigated, since either the aluminum sheet or the wood sheet was placed at the punch side. Moreover, a finite element model of the testing setup was built using the LS-Dyna software. Experiments were performed for determining individual properties of aluminum and wood which were used as input for the model. Punch forcedisplacement curves and deformation behavior observed in experiments and simulations showed good agreement.
10.07. – 14.07.2022
Toronto, Canada
Picture 1-2: ©TU Graz/IMAT
How Much Wood is in a Car? CARpenTiER Live at the Long Night of Research
Every two years the “Long Night of Research” is carried out at 280 locations all over Austria. After a forced break in 2020, this year on the 20th of May 135 000 visitors took the chance again to get a live insight into science and research of various fields. The event aims to present the importance of scientific research for all ages and especially lets children and young people experience the daily works of scientists up close. From guided tours to live experiments and join-in activities the concept is led by a hands-on and easily accessible way of knowledge transfer.
The CARpenTiER project team took the chance and presented the first results, goals and challenges in establishing wood and renewable materials in the mobility sector. With the sounds of cracking wood under a live bending test of a cars side impact beam, the attention of the audience was easily captured. Many were surprised to learn that the bio-based beam can reach the same standards as the steel version with the crucial benefits of weight savings, greenhouse emission reduction and lower primary energy use.
The exhibition of the bus staircase and wooden chassis of a snowmobile from the predecessor project WoodC.A.R. facilitated the transition to the current CARpenTiER research questions on enabling the use of wood and overcome the challenges of the variability of natural raw materials in a modern industrial production. On that night 1500 visitors at the BOKU-lab in Tulln learned about the projects approach via digital modelling of example units and function-oriented process control. Quickly, the interested discussion with the presenting team from BOKU and Innovation Centre W.E.I.Z. on the stations general question “how much wood is in a car?” turned into “how much wood could be in a car in the future?”.
20.05.2022
Tulln, Österreich
Picture 1-2: ©CARpenTiER/W.E.I.Z.
ACstyria Lightweight Day 2022
As in previous years, the “ACstyria Lightweight Day 2022” took place on March 30th 2022 at the RedBull Ring in the Austrian Spielberg, in cooperation with the A2LT – Austrian Advanced Lightweight Technology platform. All in all around 130 participants and around 20 exhibitors took part. This year again, current information about the "CARpenTiER" project has been presented.
In specialist lectures, the audience was informed about new trends, ongoing developments and projects on the major topic of lightweight construction. Across the three sectors of automotive, aerospace and rail systems, the speakers provided insights into topics such as materials, manufacturing processes and also testing techniques. In addition to insights into a wide variety of materials such as metals or composites, new insights into the use of sustainable materials such as wood or hemp in lightweight construction applications have been also presented.
"Wood will play an important role in the mobility industry in the future", this conviction of the CARpenTiER consortium was brought closer to the specialist audience by the lectures Christian Tippelreither, managing director of the cluster partner Holzcluster Steiermark and Thomas Krenke, scientific lead of the project and key researcher at the Innovation Centre W.E.I.Z. Thanks to the Cluster partner acStyria for providing this excellent platform year by year.
30.03.2022
Spielberg, Austria
Picture 1-4: ©Holzcluster/Schmid / Picture 5-6: ©ACstyria/Photoworkers
Second Consortium Meeting of the COMET-Project CARpenTiER
Finally, once again, a physical meeting of all project partners on the research field "Wood in new applications". On October 11th and 12th, as part of the “CARpenTiER” project, the 2nd consortium meeting took place in the Innovation Centre W.E.I.Z. took place and great joy of meeting was noticeable.
Full of energy and zest for action, the partners listened to the presentations of the master's theses “From laboratory to industrial scale: ecological upscaling effects in the production of wood components for the automotive industry” and “The acceptance of wood as a sustainable high-tech material in vehicles. An end-user perspective. "
Afterwards, the participants discussed the defined research questions of the CARpenTiER project, in the context of the extent to which the further development of production technologies on the basis of functional, digital-based process control is in focus. The aim of CARpenTiER is the development of production technologies for wood-based hybrid constructions in automotive, plant and mechanical engineering.
The meeting was rounded off by an impressive tour at the company of the industrial partner Weitzer Parkett.
11.10. - 12.10.2021
Weiz, Austria
Picture 1-7: ©CARpenTiER/W.E.I.Z.
Scientific Workshop in the Innovation Centre W.E.I.Z.
On September 2nd and 3rd, 2021, the kickoff workshop of the scientific partners - W.E.I.Z. Forschungs & Entwicklungs gGmbH, BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, VIRTUAL VEHICLE Research GmbH and Technical University Graz - took place in the innovation center W.E.I.Z.
At the beginning of the 2-day event, the previous work of the scientific partners was presented. Based on this, pre-prepared tests were followed by forming tests in different variations with different wood samples, in order to demonstrate by means of practical tests what possibilities there are in the raw material wood and what limits there are for it.
The various findings were then discussed in small groups in order to determine the scientific activities in the first year of research.
The aim of the CARpenTiER project is to develop production technologies with which wood can be used efficiently in automotive, plant and mechanical engineering. Not only the material wood, but also the associated manufacturing processes for industrial production should become economically efficient, controllable and reproducible.
In addition, suitable methods for woodworking and processing are to be developed in order to conserve resources and to maximize the use of raw materials in production.
02.09. - 03.09.2021
Weiz, Austria
Picture 1-7: ©CARpenTiER/W.E.I.Z.
Kickoff
On June 23, 2021, the kickoff meeting of the project “CARpenTiER‘‘ with the science and business partners took place in the form of an online event. Activities for the first year of research were defined and the entire project consortium was presented in detail. CARpenTiER is the successor project to the successfully completed WoodC.A.R. Project. As in the WoodC.A.R. project, the Innovation Centre W.E.I.Z. has taken over the consortium management in the CARpenTiER project.
The aim of CARpenTiER is to develop production technologies with which wood can be used efficiently in automotive, plant and mechanical engineering. Not only the material wood, but also the associated manufacturing processes for industrial production and the use of wood and wood hybrid components should be made predictable and manageable. In addition, suitable methods for woodworking and processing are to be developed in order to conserve resources and to maximize the use of raw materials in production.
You can find more information about the predecessor project here: Website WoodC.A.R.
23.06.2021
Online
The project CARpenTiER "Modelling, Production and further Processing of Eco-Hybrid Structures and Materials" is funded within the framework of COMET - Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies by BMK, BMAW and the Province of Styria. The COMET program is managed by the FFG.