Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS
Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS

Performance Center for Transdisciplinary Systems Research and Transfer (TransTech)

© Fraunhofer IMWS
Additive manufacturing is one of the key topics at the performance center.

In the German-Czech Performance Center for Transdisciplinary Systems Research and Transfer (TransTech), the Fraunhofer IMWS has been working together with the TU Liberec and the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU since March 2021 on new solutions for competitive manufacturing with sustainable materials and production technologies including efficient energy use and storage for varying series sizes. The main content areas include the development of highly flexible, smart and integrated process chains, in particular through combined additive processes and for sustainable plastics and lightweight construction technologies. Through cross-border cooperation and the collaboration of various disciplines, innovative approaches are to be rapidly transferred to commercial applications and hard-to-reach market potentials in Germany and the Czech Republic are to be tapped.

 

The main concerns of the German-Czech performance center "TransTech" are the promotion of transdisciplinary systems research and cross-border technology transfer in both directions of the border. The international cooperation focuses on research and development in the areas of "Transdisciplinary Industry 4.0 Technologies for Resilient and Sustainable Value Chains" and "Function-Integrating 3D Printing and Lightweight Construction Technologies". This addresses important future topics that focus both on competitive manufacturing for varying series sizes (quantity 1 - ∞) in high-wage countries and on sustainable materials and production technologies. Research approaches here lie in highly flexible and smart automation, for example by means of self-learning, collaborating industrial robots, the tool-free production of individual lightweight components in - fully recyclable - fiber composite construction, and the rapid and sustainable production of tool and mold parts by means of highly efficient 3D printing processes and bio-based plastics.

Key data

Project start

15.3.2021

Partner

  • Fraunhofer IWU
  • Fraunhofer IMWS
  • TU Liberec

Research topics

  • Transdisciplinary Industry 4.0 technologies for resilient and sustainable value chains
  • Function-integrating 3D printing and lightweight construction technologies
  • Hydrogen production and applications

Transfer paths

  • Contract research
  • Spin-offs
  • Intellectual Property
  • Standardization
  • Transfer over heads
  • Infrastructure services
  • Science communication
© Fraunhofer IMWS
CT analysis of a component.

The Fraunhofer IMWS in Halle (Saale) contributes its competencies, especially in the use of sustainable materials. The Fraunhofer IWU with its location in Zittau focuses on production engineering solutions. Expertise from the Technical University of Liberec, particularly in the areas of automation, production engineering and nano-technologies, flows into the performance center. Together, excellent research will open up market potentials in both countries that are difficult to reach. The center thus contributes significantly to the further internationalization of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. An international infrastructure and an open innovation ecosystem - from basic research to applied research - will be established together with partners from science and industry in both countries. The research services and results will be directly used and exploited by the participating institutions. This ensures an intensive and direct transfer flow from research to industrial application and academic teaching.

 

In the start-up phase of the performance center, an initial joint technology project in the field of robot-based AM/ATP hybrid manufacturing - a topic that bundles important core competencies of all three partners - will create the necessary conditions for long-term and intensive cooperation between the partners of the performance center and regional and national industry. In support of this, the long-term transnational cooperation potentials and thematic needs of the regional industry on both sides of the border will be determined within the framework of a potential analysis.