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Professorship Machine Elements and Product Development
Professorship MP

News

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

09.04.2024

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

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!

Topology optimization of a compliant mechanism

03.04.2024

Here you can see the topology optimisation of a shape-adaptive compliant mechanism. Compliant mechanisms are characterised by the fact that they generate desired deformations through elastic distortions.

The starting point for the design is a design space filled with finite elements.

A topology optimisation approach developed at IKAT scales the stiffness of the finite elements in such a way that a structure is created which, due to its stiffness properties, can generate the desired deformation under essentially any load. We refer to such compliant mechanisms as compliant mechanisms with selective compliance.

The desired deformation was defined here as the free surface deforming in the form of a sinusoidal curve under arbitrary forces. The optimisation algorithm designs the structure in such a way that it can fulfil this function well.

We show that a sinusoidal deformation can actually be achieved regardless of the force applied by loading the structure with arbitrary forces.

13th SAXSIM Conference: New insights into the strength of deep-rolled components presented

20.03.2024

At the 13th SAXSIM Conference in Chemnitz, Mr. Muhammedi presented a lecture on „Numerical Investigations into the strength of deep-rolled components under cyclic loads.“

The project, involving three research institutes – IKAT, IMM, and IF – focuses on analyzing the strength of deep-rolled components under cyclic loads through numerical simulations.

Mr. Muhammedi explained the methods used and presented the conclusions drawn from the simulation results. The collaboration between these research institutes underscores the strength of interdisciplinary cooperation in research.

The insights presented are expected to form the basis for further research in this area.

Research

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.