Additive Manufacturing
The term Additive Manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, makes it possible to produce objects layer by layer. Due to the progress in Computed Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Numerical Control (CNC), it is now possible to produce machines that use 3D printing as a functional principle and use a CAD model as input. Although this technology was developed three decades ago, it has only gained worldwide recognition in recent years because the patents that limited the use of the technology to date had expired. This means that it is now possible to print 3D components in a wide variety of materials and geometries at low cost.
Relevance
Usually, rapid prototyping is associated with Additive Manufacturing, with the difference that functional components can also be created. The great advantage is that due to the successive layered structure, objects of any geometry can be produced which are limited by conventional methods. This is an enormous advantage, especially for high-performance components. Advances in Metal Additive Manufacturing (MAM) are attracting the interest of a wide range of industries for quality, accuracy and durability. An example of this is aviation and medical technology, which has a large number of applications in the manufacture of prostheses.
Problem Definition and Focus
Due to the boom in the 3D printing industry, interest in functional components is also growing rapidly. Due to the freedom of design and the mobile usability of 3D printers, the interest of the defence industry and the military is also increasing, where the production of necessary components is often required in areas that are difficult to access. In our institute, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), which is used for the production of polymers, and Selective Laser Melting (SLM), which is used for the production of spare parts and optimized components, are common processes.
The focus here is on the one hand on the design adapted to additive manufacturing processes and the resulting effects in the process chain for the production of 3D printing components.
In this context, we focus on the following research priorities:
- IT process chain for 3D printing compatible designs
- Reverse engineering of spare parts for 3D printing
- Computer-aided simulations and topology optimization
Our Offers for Companies
If you are interested, please feel free to contact us at any time.
Student project work in your company
In addition to bachelor's and master's theses, our students also write seminar papers and project work theses. Many are interested in a practice-oriented topic in companies.
Your Benefits
- Low Costs: Almost all of our students are soldiers, who are not allowed to accept any additional remuneration in addition to their salary due to the Soldiers Act. Unlike civilian students, there are no personnel costs.
- Knowledge Transfer: Through the student work and academic supervision you receive new impulses from research.
- Scientific Approach: The examination regulations make high demands on the academic quality of student research projects. As a company, you benefit from valid results that are scientifically and methodologically derived under the supervision of an experienced member of the institute's staff.
- Good Feeling to Support Science: Science is always looking for industry experience and new use cases to try out new approaches and develop them further on the basis of practical feedback.
Industry cooperation
We are always anxious to contribute our scientific findings to industry-relevant projects! As a company, you will benefit from our scientific and methodical know-how, and as an institute we can validate our models with real use cases.
Previous Industrial Cooperations:
- Project 1: Industrial cooperation with BMW AG
- Project 2: BFS-Project "Verification and Validation within Product Development" - project partners: BMW Motorbikes, P+Z Engineering, ATOS, MSC Software