Light-weight construction is playing an increasingly important role, not only in the field of air and space industry but also in other engineering fields such as vehicle and plant construction. In these technology areas, the application of new, lighter materials, material combinations and composite materials is a driving issue. Particularly the use of plastics and composite materials enables the creation of lighter structures with increased functional integration.

However, the industrial implementation of manufacturing technologies for new materials and products is only possible where manufacturing processes are available on a technical and economical scale. The development of innovative materials and robust production processes is dependent on a holistic evaluation of the process chain for the emergence and development of light-weight products.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer ICT are experts in these fields and can offer your company tailored solutions for your requirements in the area of polymers and composite materials.

Research activities in the Polymer Engineering Department at the Fraunhofer ICT are strongly focussed on materials and process development for the production of composite materials. Around 20 employees have long-standing experience in various composite related fields.

The main emphasis is placed on the various materials and processes for the production of long fibre reinforced thermoplastics (LFT), sheet moulding compounds (SMC), thermosetting and thermoplastic fibre reinforced composites processed using RTM (including cast polyamide 6 and pCBT), and long fibre reinforced polyurethanes (PUR).

An overriding theme is light-weight construction using multi-material component design with composite materials. Here, the focus is on local continuous fibre reinforcement of components, for example in tailored LFT, as well as research in the field of sandwich and laminate structures for applications such as light-armoured vehicles. The development of computer-assisted methods and software tools for simulation of the composite manufacturing processes and the prediction of resulting material and component properties is also a key research topic at the Fraunhofer ICT.