Intelligent material mix for optimal lightweight construction applications
VDMA Working Group Hybrid Lightweight Technologies discusses approaches to multi-material design at its general meeting
VDMA Working Group Hybrid Lightweight Technologies discusses approaches to multi-material design at its general meeting
Today, this year’s general meeting of the VDMA Working Group Hybrid Lightweight Technologies is taking place with about 70 participants in Frankfurt. Thorsten Kühmann, Managing Director of the working group is convinced: “Hybrid lightweight construction has great potential. Its motto ’the right material in the right place’ aims at user-oriented multi-material design of the parts, but also at cost efficiency regarding material use and production. In the working group we unite partners from mechanical engineering, application and research. Only together over the entire value chain we will manage to develop further lightweight construction applications and to implement them with optimal technology solutions. This way we can strengthen our global market position.”
Key topics of the general meeting:
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- Hybrid lightweight construction applications are complex with regards to the product development as well as the production process. Investing in lightweight construction applications has to be worthwhile. It is one of the central challenges for the production technology to increase the cost efficiency for lightweight components by using intelligent materials at a high degree of functional integration. It is focused on small to medium serial production sizes.
- On the way to serial production, joining technologies along the various material combinations of plastics, composites, steel or aluminium plays an important role. The current research pursues a cross-sector, holistic approach to pool the know-how of the individual material experts for the joint development of optimal processing solutions.
- If composite materials want to remain competitive compared to other materials in the future, a sensible recovered substance cycle must be offered. Practical recycling strategies that are ecologically sustainable as well as supporting the overall profitability of the process chains in composite production are needed.
Regarding the presented topics, the participants of the meeting have the opportunity to go into depth in discussion forums together with the referees.
The VDMA Working Group Hybrid Lightweight Technologies was founded at the beginning of 2016. Its 200 members are VDMA member companies as technology providers, users and suppliers from important user industries of lightweight construction as well as research institutes. The VDMA has created a network for material-independent, application-oriented exchange and development support of hybrid lightweight construction. Chairman of the working group is Peter Egger, Engel Austria GmbH.
