IKV – Institute for Plastics Processing
With the CRC/TRR 402, RWTH Aachen University, TU Chemnitz and TU Dresden are jointly laying the foundation for the sustainable further development of lightweight plastic construction
On November 22, 2024, the German Research Foundation (DFG) approved funding for the new Collaborative Research Center (CRC) “Intelligent production technologies for lightweight plastic structures with load-dedicated 3D grading of the reinforcement architecture”. RWTH Aachen University, TU Chemnitz and TU Dresden are thus jointly launching a pioneering research project that can secure up to twelve years of research at the highest level.
Three leading lightweight construction locations pool their expertise
With RWTH Aachen, TU Chemnitz and TU Dresden, three renowned universities and leading locations in the field of lightweight construction are working on this joint project. “This collaboration combines outstanding expertise in plastics technology, simulation and materials research,” emphasizes Prof. Hopmann. “Together, we have laid the foundations to revolutionize the production of lightweight structures in the coming years.”
The new SFB is coordinated by Chemnitz University of Technology under the leadership of spokesperson Prof. Dr.-Ing. “An SFB is the Champions League of research, so to speak, and the approval is the result of an intensive and competitive application process, which we mastered together with our partners,” explains Prof. Kroll. Prof. Christian Hopmann is also delighted with the decision: “The approval shows how relevant our research project is for science and industry, especially with regard to the urgently needed measures for more sustainability in mobility.”
Pioneering research for sustainable mobility
The aim of the new CRC is to develop resource-efficient lightweight plastic components that stand out thanks to load-appropriate reinforcement architectures. This offers enormous potential for the automotive and aviation industries in particular: the combination of innovative materials and processes should enable the development of components that are lightweight, stable and recyclable.
In the first funding phase, the CRC will focus in particular on researching technologies and manufacturing processes that integrate both continuous and discontinuous fiber reinforcements. This combination enables a load-appropriate material design and makes the components suitable for mass production. At the same time, great importance is attached to sustainability: Recycling strategies are already taken into account during the development phase in order to optimize the entire life cycle of the products.
In the first funding phase, the research team will develop two demonstrators – a profile and a flat structure element – which will serve as a test environment for the new technologies. With each subsequent year of funding, the complexity of the components will increase in order to meet the requirements of industry in the long term.
