Film footage of nature-inspired lightweight design

On Friday, October 16, 2020, a film team commissioned by ZDF (a German public television station) visited the Chair of Polymer-based Lightweight Design (PbL) at Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus - Senftenberg. A reportage on mathematical patterns in nature and bionics - "Terra X: Measuring Nature" - is intended to show, among other things, the forward-looking processing technologies of plastic-based 3D printing in combination with novel fiber placement processes using Automated Fiber Placement (AFP). Such bionically inspired structures pick up on the natural "construction methods" created in the course of evolution and transfer them into technical constructions. Special attention was paid to the lightweight construction potential, which lies in sandwich constructions with hexagonal honeycomb cores (analogous to the "honeycomb") and textile-reinforced cover layers. Prof. Holger Seidlitz explained the individual production steps and future areas of application along the process chain, which can be completely represented by the chair of PbL. The first part of the report will probably be broadcast in the second half of 2021.