Press releases 2019

Additive manufacturing systems can generate highly complex components, which could not be produced with conventional machine tools or only with great effort. Nevertheless, such industrial 3D printers are far from being standard equipment in factories. This is not just due to the purchase costs, but also to many other challenges. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS Dresden has developed particular solutions and will present them at the “formnext” trade fair in Frankfurt am Main in November 2019. Included here are “COAXshield”, a local molten pool shield for laser powder build-up welding and the “LIsec” analysis device for controlling the powder flow in additive manufacturing processes.

In the umbrella concept “Research Fab Battery”, German scientists want to develop novel batteries that are capable of storing at least 70 percent more energy for electric vehicles and smartphones than conventional lithium-ion solutions while maintaining the same volume. As part of the cluster of competence for battery materials “ExcellBattMat“ funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Dresden's “ExcellBattMat Center” (project KaSiLi: structural cathode adaptation for silicon and lithium materials) contributes key components for this new battery generation. On November 1, 2019, researchers from Fraunhofer, TU Dresden and Leibniz started working together on innovative battery electrodes consisting of ultra-thin silicon or lithium layers to achieve high energy densities.

A new class of materials promises many innovations in aviation, turbine construction and other branches of industry: High entropy alloys (HEA) are metals in which five or more elements are atomically bonded in similar proportions. Properly designed, they are harder, more heat-resistant and lighter than steel, aluminum and other classic materials. For about 15 years, engineers around the world have been trying to make these innovative materials ready for series production. But high-entropy alloys are still too expensive and difficult to process. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS Dresden is therefore now inviting experts to a symposium in March 2020 to demonstrate how they can overcome these problems – for example through industrial 3D printing, in other words “Additive Manufacturing”. Fraunhofer IWS will give a first insight with the lecture “High entropy alloys for Additive Manufacturing” on November 21, 2019, 2:15 p.m. at the “TCT Introducing Stage” during the “Formnext” trade fair in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

To make aircrafts more economical, environmentally friendly and robust, Fraunhofer engineers from Dresden have developed a new ceramic heat shield technology. In this process, a powder of yttrium-stabilized zirconium oxide (YSZ) is added to water to form a suspension. Quickly and cost-effectively this liquid powder mixture can be sprayed onto turbine blades or other aircraft parts. Such and similar thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) facilitate aircraft engines, which consume less fuel and do not contaminate the atmosphere as much.

Professor Stefan Kaskel received high honors from renowned Tsinghua. The Beijing University appointed him Distinguished Visiting Professor. He was awarded the three-year title on the basis of many years of successful cooperation.

Prof. Christoph Leyens has been appointed Adjunct Professor at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada for his successful global commitment to Additive Manufacturing. At the beginning of this year, the Director of the Institute of Materials Science at TU Dresden and Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS received the award of the same title from RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

In sectors such as the automotive industry, components can be processed at extremely high speed using the laser remote process. However, this can result in harmful emissions which may cause lung damage. Scientists from the Dresden Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS have studied the issue as part of the IGF research project “CleanRemote”. They reduce particles and gases in the air by means of a suction device.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden have developed a new production process with the aim of efficient and environmentally friendly future battery production. They coat the electrodes of the energy storage cells with a dry film instead of liquid chemicals. This simplified process saves energy and eliminates toxic solvents. A Finnish company is currently successfully testing the new IWS technology in practice.

Fraunhofer engineers from Dresden have developed a new laser welding process employing a fast oscillating laser beam. This technology, known as "remoweld®FLEX", is suitable for particularly demanding processes – especially for components to be sealed media-tight against water and other undesirable environmental influences. These include housings for electrical and electronic components, heat exchangers and coolings, which have previously been regarded as hardly weldable and often consist of die-cast aluminum. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS and Maschinenfabrik Arnold from Ravensburg were both involved in the research development.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden have developed innovative methods enabling more materials to be processed in additive manufacturing than ever before. For example, additive manufacturing systems could facilitate better future aircraft engines with lower fuel consumption. However, engineers must first improve the current industrial 3D printers in such a way that these machines can also process very strong and extremely heat-resistant alloys. Here, the Dresden researchers rely on their profound experience with laser powder buildup welding technologies and employ artificial intelligence (AI). They contribute their profound materials expertise to the Fraunhofer joint project "futureAM". The aim of the partners is to speed up additive manufacturing systems for metal components by a factor ten and also to manage superalloys.

Fraunhofer IWS scientists headed by Dr. Holger Althues have developed an innovative process for the cost-efficient production of thin lithium anodes made of molten lithium. In the BMBF-funded “MaLiBa” project, the Dresden Institute is working with the companies hpulcas and SGS as well as with scientists led by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Janek of the Justus Liebig University in Giessen to solve further crucial issues relating to this concept. The most important innovation consists in realizing an anode compound. This contains a few micrometers thick nickel foil with lithium film stabilized by means of protective layers.

Dresden materials expert Christoph Leyens has been appointed Adjunct Professor by the renowned RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Leyens is head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS and director of the Institute for Materials Science at Dresden University of Technology.

Together with the automotive industry, researchers at the Fraunhofer IWS have been working to develop processes for friction-reducing surfaces of engine components over the past few years. Now, carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced even further by enhancing surface technology. The Dresden Institute is researching in this direction with various partners in the joint project "Prometheus".

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden have developed a joining gun that creates a connection between metal and thermoplastic materials within seconds. This gun is of a modular design and can easily be integrated into the production process, for example by mounting on a robot arm in place of a spot welding gun. At the preview leading up to the Hanover Trade Fair on January 24, 2019 on the trade fair grounds in Hall 19, scientist Annett Klotzbach will be demonstrating the advantages of the joining gun.

The phenomenon of so-called superlubricity is known, but so far the explanation at the atomic level has been missing: for example, how does extremely low friction occur in bearings? Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institutes IWM and IWS jointly deciphered a universal mechanism of superlubricity for certain diamond-like carbon layers in combination with organic lubricants. Based on this knowledge, it is now possible to formulate design rules for supra lubricating layer-lubricant combinations. The results are presented in an article in Nature Communications, volume 10.