Lightweight Production Technology

Innovative technologies for the challenges of the future

Lightweight construction offers a wide range of advantages - in addition to weight savings and strength gains, components made of fiber-reinforced plastics, for example, also have chemical resistance and special electromagnetic properties - which make them interesting for a broad range of applications. In addition, lightweight construction is elementary for meeting sustainability targets, for example through increased resource efficiency as a result of optimized raw material/material use, or resource savings over the life cycle of products.

To enable our customers to implement lightweight construction solutions economically, we combine our many years of experience in the fields of technology and process development, process automation, and technology and quality management. In doing so, we focus on the technology-neutral design of the most technically and ecologically sensible solution for our customers and partners. To this end, we cooperate with a wide network of experts such as the Aachen Center for Integrative Lightweight Construction.

Our industry focus for lightweight construction

The Fraunhofer IPT's "Lightweight Production Technology" business unit helps companies to mass-produce lightweight products and thus produce efficient, more environmentally friendly products economically and affordably for the end customer. To this end, we develop and plan innovative manufacturing systems and technologies for high-performance applications in various industries such as automotive, aerospace, energy, and sports and leisure.

 

Aviation

We develop qualified production technologies for safety-critical, highly stressed structural components made of innovative high-performance materials for companies in the aerospace industry.

 

Automotive industry

We enable the fulfillment of sustainability targets with production-ready production technologies for chassis, body and outer skin for optimized material use of composite materials and metallic lightweight components.

 

Energy

We support energy technology companies with production and automation technologies suitable for series production of high-pressure tanks and other load-bearing structures made of fiber-reinforced plastics.

 

Sports and leisure

We enable companies in the sports and leisure sector to develop ever more powerful and lighter high-tech equipment for high-performance and mass sports as well as the transfer from the prototype stage to series production.

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On request we will send you further information about our events and research topics. Please fill out our contact form.

Our competencies

Lightweight construction has many facets: From the choice of the right material and the optimal material distribution to the selection of the best product concept and the appropriate manufacturing technologies, we put together the ideal combination of different strategies and associated competencies for you in a technology-neutral manner.

Lightweight fabric

We master the handling and processing of all weldable metals as well as various fiber-reinforced plastics. With our many years of experience, we support you in selecting and testing suitable materials for your requirements.

 

Molded lightweight

We support you in the topological optimization of your components and their production through innovative manufacturing and shaping technologies from the field of additive manufacturing or tape processing, with subsequent thermoforming.

Functional lightweight construction

We enable you to integrate additional functions directly into the component structure, e.g. by introducing local component reinforcements (alloying, hardening, welding, tape laying, laser structuring) by overmolding bionic structures or sensors for structural monitoring of lightweight components.

Concept lightweight

We develop innovative lightweight design concepts for products and components, taking into account the optimal relationship between function, weight and cost. Our services range from conceptual design and testing of alternative construction methods to prototyping.

 

Lightweight manufacturing

We support you with innovative manufacturing technologies, methods and tools in the economic realization of weight-reducing measures in production. Examples are the use of the digital twin for tolerance minimization, modern CAM planning or the use of tailored (composite) blanks to reduce the number of components and welded joints.

Services

In addition, we support you with our overarching competencies in various topics related to lightweight production technology:

  • Technology selection and testing
  • Life cycle assessment
  • Process and system development
  • Prototyping.