Mon, 18 July, 2022
TWI is delighted to announce its involvement in the SCIENZE (Supply Chain Innovation Engineering for Net Zero) project consortium.
SCIENZE is a UK Research and Innovation funded project with the aim of establishing a UK-based supply chain, capable of manufacturing the next generation of power electronic components at higher volumes than the current capability. This will be achieved through a combination of novel assembly techniques and joining methods as well as investment in high levels of automation.
Following McLaren Applied's ESCAPE project (funded by the Advanced Propulsion Centre), SCIENZE will focus on McLaren Applied's IPG5 800V Silicon Carbide inverter with the aim to ensure that the cost of manufacture is as low as possible to ensure competitiveness in the challenging and cost-conscious automotive market. This product is aimed at the next generation of electric vehicles utilising 800V inverters, which include automotive and potentially electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
The project will be led by McLaren Applied and supported by TWI, Microchip Technology, Driving the Electric Revolution Centre North East (Newcastle University) and TT Electronics. TWI’s role in the project is to:
- Support the product design for manufacturing stage of the inverter chassis
- Develop novel joining methods, namely friction stir welding (Figure 1), to reduce cost, enhance component performance and improve manufacturing process efficiency
- Review of non-destructive inspection techniques for quality assurance
- Support the pre-production engineering procedures for large volume production
Figure 1. Friction stir welding process