New Method Promises 70 Per Cent Cost Reduction
Innovation Forum "Resource-efficient Technology for Load-dedicated Fibre Composite Structures effiLOAD" will be held on 20th and 21st January 2016 in Chemnitz
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Federal Cluster of Excellence “Merge Technologies for Multifunctional Lightweight Structures” (MERGE) presents research results. Photo: Hendrik Schmidt
The Innovation Forum "Resource-efficient Technology for Load-dedicated Fibre Composite Structures effiLOAD" will be held on 20th and 21st January 2016 in the Virtual Reality Center at the Fraunhofer Institute (IWU) in Chemnitz.
Fibre-reinforced plastics today are materials of the future. Due to their clearly lower weight compared to metals, they have an extraordinarily great potential for the lightweight construction of aeroplanes, automobiles and machines. However, the widespread use of these fibre-reinforced composites is still impeded by their high production costs.
The Innovation Forum therefore focuses on the presentation of more productive and cost-saving new technologies. The focal point is the new effiLOAD method for the production of continuous-fibre-reinforced high-performance components. Following its successful development and implementation, the innovation is to result in cost reductions of up to 70 per cent. This is achieved by the drastic minimisation of cutting scrap, the load-path-oriented fibre reinforcement and a high degree of automation. A regional alliance of enterprises and institutes from the fields of mechanical and plant engineering, tool and mould construction, plastics fabrication and processing, electronics and the textile industry, has formed to develop this new technology.
Moreover, the Innovation Forum addresses important technology and market trends in the fibre-reinforced plastics industry. At the same time, the challenges of this material of the future are outlined from the point of view of the main user industries, aviation (Airbus), automotive (BMW) and railway vehicle manufacturing (RCS). At the end of the event, the participants will be given an opportunity to visit the MERGE Technology Center for Lightweight Structures at Technische Universität Chemnitz.
The Innovation Forum will be held within the framework of the "Unternehmen Region" (Enterprise Region) initiative and is sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The company INNtex Innovation Netzwerk Textil GmbH is the initiator of the Innovation Forum.
For more information go to http://www.innovationsforum-effiload.de
Mario Steinebach
20.01.2016
