Press releases 2017

The project “Technology for greater energy efficiency in distribution transformers” (FLUX-LMDR) was kicked off on 30  November 2017. Under the auspices of the Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoff- und Strahltechnik IWS Dresden, an alliance of five partners from science and industry will conduct research in laser processing of transformer sheets over the next three years. The application was approved by the Federal Ministry for Economy and Energy at the end of October. The Fraunhofer IWS will lead the technological development as well as take part in systems engineering.

On November 14th, 2017, the Fraunhofer focus project, futureAM, was launched in Aachen under the auspices of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT. Six project partners – the Fraunhofer Institutes ILT, IWS, IWU, IGD and IFAM as well as the LZN Laser Zentrum Nord – have set themselves a clear goal: Over the next three years, they will work closely together to secure the prerequisites for significant technological leaps in additive manufacturing with metallic materials (metal AM).

At the Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoff- und Strahltechnik IWS, ten representatives of EU projects dealing with the subject "Thin, Organic and Large Area Electronics" (TOLAE) met for discussion. During the workshop, held from October 24 to 25, 2017, they presented their interim research results. The European Commission supports these projects as part of the Horizon 2020 program.

A higher laser beam cladding performance benefits Bosch Rexroth at the Dutch location Boxtel. The Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoff- und Strahltechnik IWS Dresden mutually optimized an industrial manufacturing process with the producer of drive and control engineering. For this purpose the IWS scientists upgraded an existing plasma powder welding machine. This way, large hydraulic cylinder rods can be coated considerably faster. Prof. Dr. Eckhard Beyer, managing director of Fraunhofer IWS, and Bernd Bodenstedt, Technical Plant Manager, Bosch Rexroth Boxtel, officially inaugurated the process.

Prof. Andrés Lasagni from the Institute of Manufacturing Engineering at the “Technische Universität Dresden” and head of the "Center for Advanced Micro-Photonics (CAMP)" at the Fraunhofer IWS received the Materials Science and Technology Prize 2017. Every two years the Federation of European Materials Societies (FEMS) awards the prize to young European materials scientists whose research work contributes significantly to material science and materials engineering.

The Fraunhofer IWS introduces two new coating solutions at the EMO Hannover 2017. The Dresden scientists present the diamond-like carbon coating “Diamor®” and a new concept for the fabrication of hard wear-protecting coatings with a thickness of more than 100 micrometers.

The Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoff- und Strahltechnik IWS developed the novel remote system concept (MuReA) for quick, flexible and efficient laser processing tasks. IWS scientists combined laser remote systems, spindle drives and high performance beam sources with each other. As a result, this novel laser system enables large-scale, flexible and quick processing tasks for materials such as aluminum, stainless steel as well as fiber reinforced polymers. Working areas of up to one square meter can be processed at a laser beam speed of up to 10 meters per second. In particular, the automotive and the aerospace industry will benefit from possible applications.

The hyperspectral imaging technology (HIS) perfectly meets the aspiration “to see more than the eye allows”. This novel camera technology enables to image light not only in a spatial but additionally in spectral resolution. To get dedicated sample information, it is now possible to analyze up to thousand spectral bands whereas formerly only three spectral bands (RGB) could be used. Fraunhofer IWS scientists have developed an integrated HSI solution, which implements the po-tential of the HSI technology into reliable hard- and software. The IWS technolo-gy is highly suitable for applications in the fields of surface and film inspection. Fraunhofer IWS will present the measuring system imanto® obsidian at the tradeshow LASER World of PHOTONICS in Munich.

Due to digitalized product development and cross-linked manufacturing cycles development periods have been radically shortened. Rapid product change requires from manufacturers and suppliers a high rate of flexibility, so that customized and cost-optimized solutions can be offered. For the development of new laser welding technologies individualized processes tailored for specific materials and products need to be combined with innovative hardware concepts. For the welding of difficult to weld materials a new high frequency beam oscillation welding head with integrated process monitoring – the remoweld®FLEX – has been developed, which is going to be presented at the industrial trade fair LASER World of PHOTONICS in Munich.

Functionalization of technical surfaces by means of natural, bio-inspired structures is an innovation driver of the 21th century. The functionalities achieved are applicable for e.g. improved bio-compatibility in medical and biotechnological industries, for tribological applications in the automotive industry and for optical applications such as product and brand protection. Fraunhofer IWS has been developing modularly designed solutions for surface functionalization tasks by fabricating micrometer and sub-micrometer structures in a targeted and flexible manner. Scientists of the Fraunhofer IWS will present for the very first time the worldwide most compact system for surface structuring by means of scanner-based direct laser interference patterning at the tradeshow Laser World of Photonics in Munich.