Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research

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Fraunhofer Institute for
Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research IFAM
Category: research Institute
Carrier: Fraunhofer Society
Legal form of the carrier: Registered association
Seat of the wearer: Munich
Facility location: Bremen
Branch offices: Braunschweig, Dresden, Stade, test center for maritime technologies Helgoland, Wolfsburg
Type of research: Applied research
Subjects: Engineering
Areas of expertise: Materials science , manufacturing technology , shaping , functional materials , adhesive technology , surface technology
Basic funding: <30% (90% federal, 10% state)
Management: Matthias Busse, Bernd Mayer
Employee: 693 (as of December 2019)
Homepage: www.ifam.fraunhofer.de

The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research IFAM , also known as "Fraunhofer IFAM" for short, is an institution of the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research eV The activities are applied research and development in the field of engineering in the field of To be assigned to materials science and materials science . The institute is headquartered in Bremen . It also has a branch of the institute focusing on powder metallurgy and composite materials in Dresden as well as the "Automation and Production Technology " department in Stade , the Fraunhofer Project Center for Electromobility and Lightweight Construction in Wolfsburg , the Fraunhofer Project Center for Energy Storage and Systems ZESS in Braunschweig and the Test Center for Maritime Technologies on Heligoland .

Research and Development

Aerial photo of the Fraunhofer IFAM in Bremen

The Fraunhofer IFAM is one of the most important independent research institutions in Europe in the fields of “shaping and functional materials” as well as “adhesive technology and surfaces”.

The focus is on research and development work with the aim of providing customers with reliable and application-oriented solutions. Products and technologies primarily address sectors that are particularly important for future viability: automotive, energy technology, aviation and maritime technologies, as well as medical technology and life sciences. Solutions developed at the institute are also used in other branches of industry such as mechanical and plant engineering, electronics and electrotechnical industries, as well as ship and rail vehicle construction or the packaging and construction industries.

Fraunhofer IFAM is a materials science-oriented research institute with a focus on the areas of metallic and polymer materials. The broad technological and scientific know-how is bundled in seven core competencies. These core competencies establish the position of the institute in the research market and form the basis for future-oriented developments.

The core competencies of Fraunhofer IFAM at a glance:

structure

Since 2003, Matthias Busse has been the managing director of the institute in the area of ​​shaping and functional materials. Bernd Mayer has been head of the Adhesive Bonding Technology and Surfaces division as institute director since 2010. In 2019, the total budget of Fraunhofer IFAM was 56.6 million euros, and it employed 693 people.

Department of Shaping and Functional Materials

The focus of the development work of the Institute for Design and Functional Materials is on tailor-made material solutions with optimized manufacturing methods and processes. The spectrum ranges from materials and shaping to the functionalization of components and systems. Complex topics such as rare earths, solid-state batteries, electrical drive systems, components for new vehicle concepts, lightweight construction, but also current issues relating to sustainable, affordable and secure energy supply are dealt with at the institute.

The transfer of application-oriented basic research into solutions that can be implemented in production technology or component-related developments requires constant expansion of the knowledge base and methodological competence. That is why the continuous expansion of specific competencies and know-how in the institute's area of ​​shaping and functional materials is of great importance.

Main focus of work:

Branch Adhesive Bonding Technology and Surfaces

With more than 350 employees, the Institute's Adhesive Bonding Technology and Surfaces division is the largest independent research facility in the field of industrial bonding technology and related technologies. The focus is on application-oriented research and development work on polymer materials, adhesive bonding , surface technology as well as automation and digitization. The main goal is to develop system solutions with and for industry.

The constantly changing requirements of the cooperation partners permanently require new and mature developments in the field of materials and joining processes. The scientific activities of the institute range from basic research to industrial research and experimental development to the implementation of the results in production and support in the launch of new products together with our partners. New process layouts and new test methods are introduced into national and European standardization processes. New scientific findings are published in internationally respected specialist journals, possibly in the context of peer review processes. Industrial fields of application are predominantly the construction of means of transport - air, road, rail, water - and its suppliers, energy technology, the construction industry and the maritime industry, the packaging, textile and electrical industry as well as microsystems and medical technology.

Main focus of work:

  • New polymers for adhesives , matrix resins for fiber composites, casting resins and coatings
  • Synthesis , formulation, processing properties and testing
  • Additives (nanofillers, initiators, etc.) for reactive polymers
  • Material models for polymer materials
  • Courses for fiber-reinforced plastics manufacturer (FRP manufacturer), fiber-reinforced plastic repairer (FRP repairer), fiber-reinforced plastic specialist (FRP specialist) and course modules for Fraunhofer Composite Engineer (formerly fiber-reinforced specialist engineer)
  • Innovative connection concepts through gluing and hybrid joining
  • Selection and qualification of adhesives
  • Use of biomimetic concepts in adhesive and surface technology
  • Development and qualification of adhesive manufacturing processes; computer-aided production planning
  • Application of adhesives / sealants , casting compounds (mixing, dosing, application)
  • Constructive design of bonded structures (simulation of the mechanical behavior of bonded connections and components using FEM, prototype construction)
  • Determination of characteristic values, vibration and operational strength of joined connections
  • Courses - national and international - for the European Adhesive Bonder - EAB ( Adhesive Practitioner ), European Adhesive Specialist - EAS ( Adhesive Specialist ) and European Adhesive Engineer - EAE ( Adhesive Specialist Engineer ) as well as customer and technology-specific training courses
  • Upscaling of new processes, especially from joining processes to the prototype stage
  • New methods for modifying and coating surfaces
  • Development of environmentally friendly pretreatment processes and corrosion protection systems for plastics and metals
  • Functional coatings using dry and wet chemical processes as well as functional paint systems
  • Plasma processes for surface treatment through to the design of manufacturing plants
  • Development of special test methods (e.g. formation and adhesion of ice on surfaces, resistance to aging )
  • Evaluation of aging and degradation processes in material composites; electrochemical analysis
  • Material development with quantum / molecular mechanical methods
  • Automation , parallelization and digitization of processes
  • Robot-assisted assembly of large structures
  • Processing of fiber composite materials
  • Mobile robot systems in cooperation with humane work shares
  • Software development and control engineering
  • Quality assurance concepts for adhesive and lacquer applications through the production-integrated and digital analysis of component surfaces

Cooperations

Fraunhofer IFAM is a member of the Fraunhofer Group for Materials and Components as well as 10 alliances and the Fraunhofer Academy. Institutes or departments of Fraunhofer institutes with different competencies cooperate in order to jointly work on and market a business area.

Fraunhofer IFAM cooperates in the following alliances:

  • Fraunhofer Automobile Production Alliance
  • Fraunhofer Battery Alliance
  • Fraunhofer Additive Manufacturing Alliance
  • Fraunhofer Lightweight Construction Alliance
  • Fraunhofer Nanotechnology Alliance
  • Fraunhofer Alliance for Polymer Surfaces (POLO)
  • Fraunhofer Cleaning Technology Alliance
  • Fraunhofer Simulation Alliance
  • Fraunhofer Space Alliance
  • Fraunhofer Transport Alliance

In addition, the Fraunhofer Academy bundles the Fraunhofer -Gesellschaft's advanced training courses under one roof.

The intensive cooperation and networking with the universities and colleges at the institute's locations plays a major role for Fraunhofer IFAM. This applies in particular to the University of Bremen and the technical universities in Dresden and Hamburg . Researchers at Fraunhofer IFAM have been active in the past summer and winter semesters with numerous courses at the University of Bremen, the Technical University of Dresden, the University of Bremen and the University of Bremerhaven , among others .

history

The history of today's Fraunhofer IFAM begins in the rooms of a former wool combing factory in Bremen-Lesum. At the age of over 70, Alexander Matting and his longtime chief engineer Hans-Dieter Steffens founded the working group for applied materials research AFAM from Institute A for materials science at the Technical University of Hanover with a total of 25 employees. The working group will focus on welding technology with all of its peripheral areas.

Initially, AFAM is based only on the Fraunhofer Society and does not receive any basic funding. In 1970 it was incorporated into society as a working group. By agreement with several federal ministries, the working group was accepted as an institute in the Fraunhofer Society at the beginning of 1974: AFAM became the IfaM Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Materials Research. Since 1975 the institute has received basic funding and thus full legal recognition in all bodies of the Fraunhofer Society. From pure materials research, the fields of work at IfaM have been systematically expanded over the years to include processing technology. Since 1999 this has also been reflected in the institute's name: Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research IFAM.

In April 1999, the employees of Fraunhofer IFAM were able to move into a new, ultra-modern building with now 6,200 square meters in Wiener Strasse 12 of the Technology Park of the University of Bremen. The extension building was inaugurated in summer 2015.

Due to the constant growth, the institute now has research locations in Bremen (head office), Dresden (founded in 1992 as part of the integration of East German research institutions), Stade (since 2010), Wolfsburg (since 2016) and Braunschweig and a test center on Helgoland (since 2018).

Web links

Individual evidence

50 years of Fraunhofer IFAM: Commemorative publication for the 50th anniversary of Fraunhofer IFAM, Bremen 2018.

Memberships of the Dresden location.

Hans-Dieter Kunze, Uwe Echterhoff: Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Materials Research. In: Wittheit zu Bremen (ed.): Yearbook of Wittheit zu Bremen. Volume XXVIII. Verlag M. Hauschild, Bremen 1984, pp. 165-197.

Coordinates: 53 ° 6 ′ 41 ″  N , 8 ° 50 ′ 55 ″  E