The Innovative Composite Materials Research and Development Center (ICC) develops innovative composite materials and manufacturing methods to achieve social transformation, while also researching ways of expanding innovative fields of application. It drives market development, material development, and manufacturing technology development through cross-industrial, interdisciplinary technology integration targeting concrete needs of society. ICC provides a research and development environment where evaluation and manufacturing equipment can be used to achieve these outcomes.
To achieve breakthroughs across a multitude of difficult challenges not possible under current conditions, such as mass production, larger structures, easy joining, lower costs and expansion of products areas, ICC aims to bring together knowledge from a range of fields including biology, polymer chemistry, textile engineering and mechanical engineering. It also aims to achieve dramatic progress in intelligent manufacturing through the “chemical reaction” generated by these disparate fields.
For example, the meeting of researchers from different fields is enabling design research into issues that cannot be resolved through materials research alone. When downstream product manufacturers in the supply chain face issues with commercialization of their products, it is possible to work together with upstream material manufacturers and midstream molders to achieve a solution. The role of ICC in this case is to coordinate the technology integration and supply chain collaboration to make this happen. Where the solution requires additional investment and space, close collaboration between industry, academia and government, that also gets national and local government involved, can streamline the solutions process.
ICC is actively meeting society’s need for composite materials
- Actively undertaking joint research, commissioned research, and researcher education
To encourage cross-industrial, interdisciplinary integration, ICC employs an “under one roof” system that brings together companies and research institutions from different fields to work together under a single roof.
As far as possible, it provides an open environment for research and development in a barrier-free space that encourages freedom of movement, but that also takes confidentiality into account. This collaboration between cross-industrial, interdisciplinary researchers and developers is creating innovation in the field of composite materials.
In industries dealing with carbon fiber and other composite materials, there are significant gaps between areas of academic research undertaken by universities and other institutions, and areas of product development undertaken by enterprises.
ICC is aiming to quickly foster the people needed to fill these gaps.
ICC has a large internal space that enables actual assembly and realization of large continuously-molded structural members using carbon fiber composites for such things as buildings, bridges, pipes of several kilometers in length for drilling for ocean resources, and blades for large offshore wind turbines for power generation. These facilities are essential for creating larger structures, which is one factor for achieving innovation in composite materials.
In large spaces, it is possible to install the equipment needed for the research project process to flow smoothly, and to mold and evaluate large samples in a continuous process. In the field of composite materials, ICC is the only research facility with such a large internal space within Japanese universities.
For molding and assembly of composite materials, materials testing and evaluation
Areas with analytical equipment for analysis and areas with small and mid-size meeting rooms for projects
For chemical analysis laboratory and areas for researchers
Xradia XRM-410 Versa
|Maximum size of sample||φ300mm|
|Weight limit of sapmle||15kg|
- Selectable area spectroscopy
- Sputter depth profiling
- Micro-focused monochromator
- Snapshot acquisition
- High-resolution chemical state spectroscopyInsulator analysis
- Quantitative chemical imaging
|Maximum upper mold weight||3.0t|
|Maximum lower mold weight||1.5t|
|Maximum uppermold weight||10tf|
|Maximum lower mold weight||20tf|
- Cross-industrial, interdisciplinary integration stimulates intelligent manufacturing
- Under One Roof system in an open environment
- Fostering professionals in the composite materials industry
- ICC facilities: Large internal space and range of manufacturing and evaluation equipment
- A PDF file of equipment and specifications maintained by ICC