Press Releases 2018

Fraunhofer ILT

Fast and Ultra-precise: Processing Optics with LBF

© Fraunhofer ILT

After having developed laser polishing, the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen has now also developed an ablative process for the ultra-precise machining of optics. Laser Beam Figuring (LBF) enables an ablation of less than 5 nm. For the first time, a complete process chain for the laser-based optics production has been made possible.

For more information please visit the ILT website
-> Fast and Ultra-precise: Processing Optics with LBF

Fraunhofer ENAS

Successful Cooperation with Tohoku University Sendai is being continued

© Tohoku University

During a festive ceremony on December 17, 2018, the continuative contract between Tohoku University Sendai, one of the Excellence Universities in Japan, and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft for the continuation of the Fraunhofer ENAS Project Center “NEMS/MEMS devices and manufacturing technologies at Tohoku University” was signed. For more than 15 years, scientists from Fraunhofer ENAS and Chemnitz University of Technology cooperate closely with partners from Tohoku University in Sendai. The long-standing and successful cooperation between the Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS and Tohoku University will be continued. Two parties are also agreed to focusses on various research topics during the new contract term, such as MEMS sensors and actuators, Bonding technologies for chip- and wafer level packaging.

For more information, please visit the ILT website
Successful Cooperation with Tohoku University Sendai is being continued

 

Fraunhofer ILT

Integrating One’s Sights on the Factor of 10: “futureAM – Next Generation Additive Manufacturing”

© Fraunhofer ILT

The future of 3D printing will be the focus at formnext 2018 in Frankfurt am Main. For this, the Fraunhofer Focus Project futureAM offers particularly exciting insights, a project in which six Fraunhofer institutes are involved. The partners are doing both, comprehensively looking at digital and physical added value right from the order to the finished component; and at the leap into a new technology generation of additive manufacturing.

For more information, please visit the ILT website
Integrating One’s Sights on the Factor of 10: “futureAM – Next Generation Additive Manufacturing”

Fraunhofer IWS

Less animal experiments on the horizon: Multi-organ chip awarded

© Fraunhofer IWS

Dresden Fraunhofer engineers have developed a so-called "multi-organ chip". This microsystem from the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS Dresden, which has now received an "EARTO Innovation Award" in Brussels, simulates the blood circulation and the organs of animals or humans.

For more Information, please visit the IWS website
Less animal experiments on the horizon: Multi-organ chip awarded

Fraunhofer IWS

Micro energy harvesters for the Internet of Things

© Fraunhofer IWS

Thin organic layers provide machines and equipment with new functions. They enable, for example, tiny energy recuperators. In future, these will be installed on pipes or other surfaces in order to convert waste heat into electricity. The experts at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS Dresden use ink based on conductive polymers for this purpose.

For more Information, please visit the IWS website
Micro energy harvesters for the Internet of Things

Fraunhofer ILT

“TwoCure”: the New Dimension in Resin-Based 3D Printing

© Fraunhofer ILT

The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT has taken its “TwoCure” process to the next level by developing it into an industry-ready machine technology. The team of scientists from Aachen, Germany will be presenting their “TwoCure” system at formnext in Frankfurt am Main from November 13 to 16. The new technique uses resin-based 3D printing to produce large numbers of plastic components without support structures in an automated process.

For more Information, please visit the ILT Website
“TwoCure”: the New Dimension in Resin-Based 3D Printing
 

Fraunhofer ILT

Flying High with VCSEL Heating

© Fraunhofer ILT

Additive manufacturing processes are booming, with the rapid growth of the formnext trade fair a clear indication of this. At formnext 2018, in cooperation with the Chair for Technology of Optical Systems TOS at RWTH Aachen University, the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT will be showing a new process in which the component in the powder bed is heated with laser diodes. As a result, distortion can be reduced, taller parts generated and new materials used.

For more Information, please visit the ILT Website
Flying High with VCSEL Heating

Fraunhofer IWS

Micro fishbones to stop car fuel thirst

© Fraunhofer IWS

Dresden Fraunhofer engineers are working on reducing the fuel consumption of cars by more than a tenth. They use ultra-short laser pulses to generate very fine and friction-reducing fishbone patterns in engines.

For more Information, please visit the IWS website
Micro fishbones to stop car fuel thirst

Fraunhofer ILT

Take Five: Aachen Laser Projects at EuroBLECH 2018

© Fraunhofer ILT

Take Five: Aachen Laser Projects at EuroBLECH 2018Since it oversees such a large number of projects, the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT from Aachen is increasingly faced with the agony of choice: Which innovations should it present at an industrial exhibition or a congress? At EuroBLECH, from October 23 to 26, 2018 in Hanover, the Aachen scientists will be presenting five groundbreaking developments on all major trends in contemporary sheet metal processing – from hybrid lightweight construction to multifunctional laser robots with an integrated digital twin.

For more Information,please visit the ILT Website
Take Five: Aachen Laser Projects at EuroBLECH 2018

Fraunhofer IWS

Lasers make the lotus effect on aircraft

© Fraunhofer IWS

Filigree engravings on external surfaces of aircraft are intended to ensure that airflow remains smooth and drag on the aircraft low. For this, engineers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS, the Technische Universität Dresden and Airbus have developed a laser process that produces textured surfaces at high throughput making surface contamination more difficult.

For more information, please visit the IWS website
Lasers make the lotus effect on aircraft

Fraunhofer ILT

Surface Finishing at High Speed

© Fraunhofer ILT

High precision and high quality, but too slow – this is how most laser processes for surface finishing can be described. In the EU research project ultraSURFACE, the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen, together with nine international partners, is developing two new optics by the end of 2018. With them, the laser beam shape can be specifically and quickly adapted to constantly changing processing situations. In the near future, lasers will be able to polish, coat or structure surfaces up to ten times faster than before thanks to this tuning.

For more information, please visit the ILT Website
Surface Finishing at High Speed

Fraunhofer ILT, Fraunhofer IPT

3D-Printing: Support structures to prevent vibrations in post-processing operations for thin-walled parts

© Fraunhofer IPT

One of the main features of additive manufacturing processes such as 3D-printing is that the complexity of the component shapes it produces, is virtually unlimited. However, high surface quality in metallic components can frequently be achieved only via milling or grinding finishing operations. Milling operations conducted on thin-walled parts in particular often cause vibrations which impact negatively on part accuracy and on machining time.

For more information, please visit the ILT website
3D-Printing: Support structures to prevent vibrations in post-processing operations for thin-walled parts

Fraunhofer ILT

More functionalities: Microstructuring large surfaces with a UV-laser system

© Coherent, Inc.

Coherent operates a high-performance excimer laser system for processing large surfaces in partnership with the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen, Germany. Using the short-wave laser system, the partners aim to develop new methods for carefully controlled surface processing. Preparation of CFRP adhesive surfaces is just one example of the numerous potential applications.

For more information, please visit the ILT website
More functionalities: Microstructuring large surfaces with a UV-laser system

Fraunhofer ICT

Rapid spectroscopic process analysis for the develop-ment and control of flexible production processes

© Fraunhofer ICT

Global competition in the chemical industry, with increasingly dynamic markets and product cycles, requires shorter process development times and flexible and efficient production processes. By combining micro chemical engineering and spectroscopic process analysis in different spectral ranges, the time-to-market can be shortened, and an extremely fast and systematic screening of a variety of process conditions can be achieved.

For more information, please visit the ICT website
Rapid spectroscopic process analysis for the develop-ment and control of flexible production processes

Fraunhofer ICT

Faster time-to-market: Reaction calorimetry in microreactors

© Fraunhofer ICT

At Achema 2018, which will be held from June 11th - 15th in Frankfurt, the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology will demonstrate the latest gen-eration of continuous reaction calorimeters. These permit rapid screening of thermokinetic data, making kinetic constants and safety-relevant data available in the early stages of process development.

For more information, please visit the ICT website
Faster time-to-market: Reaction calorimetry in microreactors

Fraunhofer IWS

With low pressure to the lightweight aircraft

© Fraunhofer IWS

Engineers at the Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoff- und Strahltechnik IWS in Dresden have developed an innovative process in cooperation with industrial partners to weld and form modern lightweight parts for aircraft. They present this technology at the International Aerospace Exhibition ILA in Berlin from 25 to 29 April 2018.

For more information please visit the IWS website
With low pressure to the lightweight aircraft

Fraunhofer IWS

Coaxial wire cladding in the next generation

© Fraunhofer IWS

The next generation‘s laser wire processing optics "COAXwire" is in the starting blocks. At the Hannover Messe and the ILA Berlin, the Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoff- und Strahltechnik IWS Dresden presents two versions of its coaxial wire optics. A completely newly developed miniaturized version enables high-precision processing of complex components with fine wire. In a macro version, the head can be equipped with a hot-wire module.

For more information please visit the IWS website
-> Coaxial wire cladding in the next generation

Fraunhofer ILT

Optimized Powder Jet Perfects Laser Material Deposition

© Fraunhofer ILT

The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT has developed an inline system for testing, qualifying and adjusting the focused powder jet of the nozzles of laser metal deposition machines. With this system, nozzles can be certified and the caustic characterized completely. The user can also visualize and monitor the process thanks to the camera module with integrated illumination.

For more information please visit the ILT website
-> Optimized Powder Jet Perfects Laser Material Deposition

Fraunhofer ILT

New Process for Marker-free Cell Selection

© Fraunhofer ILT

At this year’s analytica trade fair in Munich, three Fraunhofer Institutes will be presenting a project from pre-competitive research. Biologists, computer scientists and laser experts have developed a process to analyze and select cells and then examine their protein production. In pharmaceutical research, this will make it possible to develop active ingredients much faster than before.

For more information please visit the ILT website

New Process for Marker-free Cell Selection

Fraunhofer IWS

Bonding without adhesive

© Fraunhofer IWS

The Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoff- und Strahltechnik IWS Dresden has developed a new process for joining materials with different properties. Thermal direct joining presses laser-structured metal with thermoplastic components and heats them locally. This causes the thermoplastic to melt, to penetrate into the structures and to adhere to the surface. A specially developed joining gun generates robust connections within seconds. The "HeatPressCool-Integrative" (HPCI) process is highly suitable for replacing complex adhesive processes.

For more information please visit the IWS website
-> Bonding without adhesive