Lightweight Structured Materials Innovative Solutions for the Complete Product Manufacture Chain

The BMBF project 'Lightweight Structured Materials', lead by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Holger Seidlitz, is working on innovative lightweight solutions for the entire product manufacture chain. The areas of focus will be computer-aided design (CAD), construction, design and manufacture of joined and complex components with structured functional surfaces and the testing and characterization of materials and compounds.

The research project, involving a group of five young researchers, is funded within the framework of 'Entrepeneurial Regions' − the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Innovation Initiative for the New German Länder.

The background are the significant results that emerged from junior research groups of the 'InnoStructure' project, which was launched in 2008 within the 'InnoProfile' programme. The basic technologies of design and manufacture in the area of sheet metal structuring and processing which are being researched at the BTU Chair of Joining and Welding Technology in cooperation with the chairs of Physical Metallurgy and Materials Technology are subsequently used by companies in the region for the development of high quality lightweight products.

The topics of the BMBF project represent the individual procedural steps in the implementation of structured lightweight components with the following thematic priorities:

  • CAD and simulations of forming processes,
  • Design, layout and manufacture of bonded components,
  • Additive manufacturing of complex components with structured functional surfaces,
  • Testing and characterization,
  • Development and qualification of a customized SME management tool for the introduction of technological innovations.

InnoProfile transfer projects  'Lightweight Structured Materials'

Within the framework of InnoProfile transfer project 'Lightweight Structured Materials', the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding a five-member research group at the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg with over € 3.1 million for a duration of five years. The aim of the BMBF programme is to increase the innovation capacity of SMEs by raising the profile of research in the field of lightweight construction and promoting a further transfer of results to industry. The research projects should further strengthen economic development in the new regions. Cooperation between the research groups and industry ensures the thematic orientation of the projects and attracts skilled workers, securing the future economic and technological processes of the industry.