Professorship Machine Elements and Product Development
Professorship MP

News

Research collaboration in Scotland

30.04.2024
Research collaboration in Scotland

As part of a collaboration between IKAT and the Institute for Life and Earth Sciences at Heriot Watt University, Mrs. Nettlenbusch of the Product Development Department is conducting a research visit on Transition Engineering. The aim of the trip to Scotland is to gain a better understanding of Susan Krumdieck’s approach to Transition Engineering as a means of sustainable product development. This is being done through a case study examining whether orthoses can be made more sustainable. Additionally, the stay at the Scottish Orkney Research & Innovation Campus is aimed at preparing a workshop that Professor Krumdieck will conduct at TU Chemnitz in early June. The central focus of the workshop will be the case study developed during the four-week stay.

Sustainable Products

22.04.2024

Up to now, technical products have often been assessed for their full sustainability spectrum only after they have been developed. In the case of revolutionary products and disruptive developments, there is no generational development, so there is no information on the sustainability of previous generations. In the absence of information on previous generations, the assessment can only be a rough guide due to a lack of information, and will become more precise as more information on the product becomes available during product development. In this way it is possible to assess the sustainability of any product, regardless of its history. In addition, the knowledge gained from the previous product can be used through appropriate documentation.

 

IKAT welcomes new staff member for the shaft-hub-connections/fatigue division

09.04.2024
IKAT welcomes new staff member for the shaft-hub-connections/fatigue division

IKAT welcomes Dipl.-Ing. Maik Zylla as a new member of staff. Following his apprenticeship as an industrial mechanic and further education as a state-certified technician for mechatronics, he completed his degree in mechanical engineering at our university at the beginning of this year. During his studies, Mr Zylla specialised in design engineering and product development, worked for three years as a student trainee in the development department at thyssenkrupp Dynamic Components GmbH and wrote his thesis on the topic of „external knurling press fit“. In addition to his technical expertise, he is interested in cycling, hiking, fitness training and 3D printing. Welcome to the team, Mr Zylla!

PhD defense in the topic of feather key connections

05.04.2024
PhD defense in the topic of feather key connections

The Institute of Design Engineering and Drive Technology (IKAT) is pleased to congratulate Mr. F. Kresinsky on his successful completion of his doctoral thesis on the topic of „Übertragunsverhalten torsionsbeanspruchter Passfederverbindungen.“

In his dissertation, Mr. Kresinsky describes various failure modes and causes of keyed connections under torsion, with a focus on failure due to shaft fracture and plasticization of the shaft.

IKAT wishes Mr. Kresinsky much success and all the best in his future endeavors. We would also like to express our gratitude for his valuable contribution to the institute.

Congratulations, Mr. Kresinsky!

Research

Hydrodynamic/Plain Bearings

Hydrodynamic/Plain Bearings
Growing ecological and economic pressure leads to ever higher and more complex stresses in the development of plain bearings. The research at the institute is therefore primarily concerned with the investigation and development of alternative sliding materials and the influence of geometric deviations. The main focus of the investigations is the wear behavior under the most varied operating conditions (particles, mixed friction, hydrodynamics).

Shaft-Hub Connections

Shaft-Hub Connections
The permissible loads of selected WNV (tapered and cylindrical interference fit as well as feather key, knurled, polygonal joints, etc.) have been investigated primarily at IKAT for decades in the area of fatigue, fatigue and fatigue strength. The behavior under individual loads (bending, torsion) as well as combined dynamic loads is analysed.

Fretting Fatigue

Friction Corrosion
In contact with various components, deformations in connection with the prevailing joint pressure initiate the damage process of fretting fatigue. Current research activities at the institute focus on basic research on the damage phenomenon of fretting fatigue and pursue the objective of developing an impact-compliant calculation method.

Flexible Systems

Flexible Systems
While conventional mechanisms owe their deformability to the sliding or rolling interfaces in the joints, flexible mechanisms fulfill their function through elastic stretches in places that are deliberately designed to be flexible during design. This functional principle enables novel, shape-adaptive structures, which can be used, for example, in softrobotics or in variable-shape wings. The professorship focuses its research on optimization-based synthesis methods.

Strength of Gearing

Strength of Gearing
The strength tests focus on the tooth root load-bearing capacity of worm gear units. The challenge to numerical imaging lies in the complex geometry and the special material bronze.

Friction coefficients for force-locked Connections

Friction coefficients for force-locked Connections
The coefficient of static friction (also: coefficient of friction or coefficient of friction) is to be understood as a system variable with a multitude of influencing parameters. In order to use existing potentials in friction-locking connections (e.g. screw, flange, press-fit connections), an experimental investigation is indispensable. With the help of standardized test methods on model samples, a wide variety of tribological configurations are examined at the research centre with regard to their transmission behavior. A major field of research is the synthesis of new design/selection tools for friction-enhancing measures (e.g. micro/laser structures, hard particles, coatings) for static and dynamic load cases.

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