Deadline: 25-Nov-22
The European Commission (EC) is inviting proposals to advance the state-of-the-art in the research of, and innovation in, new high performance lead-free piezoelectric materials for military underwater sensors applications to replace PZT, with a view to future phases of development and industrialization, leading to the prospective establishment of at least one European supply chain in this domain.
Objective: The general objective is to replace existing PZT based ceramics with alternative technologies, such as lead-free piezoelectric materials (aspiring to have no reduction in performance levels with even the potential for a gain), which will be suitable for military underwater applications, including the most demanding, which is a passive hydrophone and active transducer for sonar and underwater communications. The overarching goal is to have the emergence of at least one European lead-free piezoceramic supply chain, which will soon be mandatory with regarding the European REACH regulations. The patenting of new formulations and processes would be of use for sonar applications.
Scope: The proposals should carry out research actions for the development of advanced lead-free piezoelectric materials with physical and piezoelectric properties, enabling the substitution of PZT in military underwater applications. These research actions may be extended to disruptive ceramic technology processes, such as 3D printing, and material engineering to enhance current piezoelectric properties. Moreover, increasing the technological maturity of lead-free piezoelectric materials for PZT substitutions in military underwater applications, and assessing these new materials for military underwater applications on representative test transducers could also be considered. Furthermore, increasing the manufacturing readiness level of promising lead-free piezoelectric materials and enabling one or more European industrial suppliers of lead-free piezoelectric materials for sonar transducers is a benefit of research activities in this area. In addition, the proposal must pay particular attention to potential synergies and complementarity to other ongoing R&D projects at national, multinational and on-going dual-use initiatives at European Union level, to avoid unnecessary duplication.
Types of Activities
The following types of activities are eligible for this topic:
- Activities that aim to create, underpin and improve knowledge, products and technologies, including disruptive technologies, which can achieve significant effects in the area of defence (generating knowledge)
- Activities that aim to increase interoperability and resilience, including secured production and exchange of data, to master critical defence technologies, to strengthen the security of supply or to enable the effective exploitation of results for defence products and technologies (integrating knowledge)
- Studies, such as feasibility studies to explore the feasibility of new or upgraded products, technologies, processes, services and solutions
- Design of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology as well as the definition of the technical specifications on which such design has been developed, including partial tests for risk reduction in an industrial or representative environment
- System prototyping of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology
- Testing of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology
- Qualification of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology
- Certification of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology
- Development of technologies or assets increasing efficiency across the life cycle of defence products and technologies
Funding Information
The available call budget is EUR 20 000 000.
Expected Impact
The research should contribute to:
- reduction in pollution, which is a part of the European Green Deal,
- Strong technological differentiators compared to non-European sonar suppliers,
- Emergence of one or more European supply chains,
- Patenting of new formulations and processes,
- Compliance with REACH regulations on hazardous substances and obsolescence anticipation,
- Sustainability components for underwater applications
Eligibility Criteria
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
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be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- non-EU countries
- have their executive management structure established in eligible countries
- must not be subject to control by a non-associated third country or nonassociated third-country entity.
For more information, visit European Commission.
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