On 4 September 2024, IKAT took part in the Chemnitz company run with 12 employees. In addition to sporting ambition, the focus was on having fun. Mr. Zylla achieved the institute’s internal best time of 19:46 (233rd place overall for men). Team IKAT achieved a respectable 84th place in the overall rankings. The company run was once again a highlight for our employees this year and we are looking forward to the Capital of Culture Company Run 2025 and are already starting our training!

 

 

We would like to thank Mr. Müller from the press office for taking the group photo and the TU for the excellent support at the running stand

 

Mr Stahr was able to defend his Master’s thesis on „AI-assisted Topology Optimisation of Selective Compliant Mechanisms with Predictor-Evaluator Networks“ on 4 September. He introduced the topology optimisation of compliant mechanisms and tested a novel machine learning approach. We congratulate Mr Stahr on his Master’s degree!

On Wednesday, August 28th, IKAT embarked on an impressive hiking and paddling tour around the city of Rochlitz and along the Zwickauer Mulde river. The tour took us up Rochlitzer Berg, where we caught sight of the famous “Lulatsch” from the observation tower. This shared activity provided a welcome break from our daily research routines and allowed us to gather new impressions from the region. With renewed energy and focus, we now return to our work. A heartfelt thank you to the organizing team for their excellent planning of this diverse and enjoyable day!

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.