News and Media

A researcher team from industry and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS is spinning off a high-tech company called “Fusion Bionic”. The company aims to bring lotus effects and other functional microstructures from nature to technical surfaces such as air wings and implants using globally cutting-edge solutions for laser interference technology. The team received support from Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s AHEAD project, which specializes in technology transfer.

Fraunhofer IWS achieves excellent joint properties by means of magnetic pulse welding for usage at TU Munich

Today, new coatings on brake discs meet increasingly complex requirements. Conventionally, a destructive metallographic cross-section is used to check their quality. This method is expensive, slow and resource-intensive. Fraunhofer IWS researchers have now demonstrated that a fast and non-destructive evaluation can also be achieved using the LAwave® method.

Microlaunchers are an alternative to conventional launch vehicles. Able to carry payloads of up to 350 kilograms, these midsized transport systems are designed to launch small satellites into space. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden and TU Dresden’s aerospace experts developed an additively manufactured rocket engine with an aerospike nozzle for microlaunchers.

Hybrid manufacturing describes the combination of different manufacturing processes in order to implement targeted use of their advantages. Therefore, Fraunhofer IWS particularly focuses on combinations with additive manufacturing processes. Hybridization is used wherever – locally and geometrically limited – materials with optimized properties are required: for example, medical technology, automotive and plant engineering, and aerospace.

Fraunhofer IWS and Papiertechnische Stiftung PTS are jointly creating the basis for a binder-free paper joining process. They previously generated meltable reaction products by irradiating papers with a carbon monoxide laser (CO laser). The research team subsequently “bonded“ two papers in a heat-sealing process.

Brake discs are moving into focus as part of the current green-energy discussion. Fraunhofer IWS scientists have developed the HICLAD process concept to allow a maximization of corrosion and wear protection by tailored surface functionalization. A further focus includes the reduction of particulate emissions. An additional advantage of this technology is the cost-effective series production.

How optimally joined aluminum and fiber composite plastics contribute to climate protection. In order to improve city air quality and protect the environment, many municipalities are planning to acquire electric refuse vehicles for their parks and pedestrian passages. However, these are equipped with heavy batteries or fuel cells and can therefore usually transport less waste than classic waste trucks with combustion engines. 

A novel multimode fiber laser allows individual modifications of the laser beam shape within a few milliseconds – without using external optical elements. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS can now realize various applications from heat conduction welding to deep penetration welding with only one laser system. Following intensive tests of the high-power fiber laser in Dresden's laboratories, industrial customers are invited to cooperate with Fraunhofer IWS experts to discover the laser’s advantages for their specific applications.

Fraunhofer IWS applies innovative laser melting system for complex copper components for the first time. Creating sophisticatedly shaped plastic parts with the 3D printer is no longer an art process, but an everyday technology. This is quite different with pure copper: Until now, it has not been possible to completely melt the metal to create complex components layer by layer using infrared lasers. 

Dresden scientists have developed a self-cleaning metallic surface. A project team of the Technische Universität Dresden and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS structured an aluminum plate with a laser process in such a way that water droplets can roll at its surface and thus remove dirt particles – completely without chemical cleaning agents or additional effort. The scientific evidence of the self-cleaning effect has been published in the journal “Applied Surface Science”.

Ice on an aircraft’s surfaces can be a hazard. It increases drag and fuel consumption, disrupts aerodynamic flows, and decreases lift – which impairs the aircraft’s ability to fly safely. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS, AIRBUS and TU Dresden have developed a laser process that fills two needs with one deed. On one hand, accumulated ice falls off by itself and on the other it takes less heat to de-ice surfaces. Direct Laser Interference Patterning permits surfaces to be structured in ways that effectively repel ice.