DFG funds composites-focused Collaborative Research Center

On Nov. 22, the German Research Foundation (DFG, Bonn, Germany) approved funding for a new Collaborative Research Centre (CRC), which will be used for the intelligent production of composite and plastic structures with load-dedicated 3D grading of reinforcement architectures. Germany-based RWTH Aachen University, TU Chemnitz and TU Dresden plan to use the CRC in a recently launched 12-year research project.

“This collaborative project combines expertise in plastics technology, simulation and materials research,” says Prof. Christian Hopmann, director of the Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) in Industry and Craft at RWTH Aachen University. “Together, we have laid the foundations to revolutionize the production of lightweight structures in the coming years.”

The CRC is being coordinated by Chemnitz University of Technology under the leadership of spokesperson Prof. Dr Lothar Kroll. “The CRC represents the Champions League of research, so to speak, and the funding approval is the result of an intensive and competitive application process, which we mastered together with our partners,” says Kroll. 

The CRC aims to develop resource-efficient, lightweight components that stand out thanks to load-appropriate reinforcement architectures, offering potential for the automotive and aviation industries in particular: for example, the combination of innovative materials and processes should enable the development of components that are light, stable and recyclable.

In the first funding phase, the CRC will focus on researching technologies and manufacturing processes that integrate continuous and discontinuous fiber reinforcements. This combination will reportedly enable a load-appropriate material design and make the components suitable for mass production. At the same time, great importance is being attached to sustainability. Additional research will consider recycling strategies during the development phase to optimize the entire life cycle of the products.

Research teams will develop two demonstrators — a profiled and a flat structural 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.