Press

As part of a strategic international cooperation program of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Empa in Dübendorf (CH) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC in Würzburg (D) launched a three-year joint research project at the beginning of January to create the basis for a production-ready next generation of traction batteries for electric cars. In contrast to lithium-ion cells currently in use, these will consist only of solids and will no longer contain flammable liquid electrolytes. The Fraunhofer ISC contributes its know-how in process development and battery cell production and produces the first prototypes.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) provide significant energy savings over conventional light sources. In terms of light quality, however, conventional lighting solutions are still superior to LEDs as the latter are unable to reproduce the entire color spectrum. Most importantly, LEDs lack an efficient red phosphor to produce warmer white light. Four partners have teamed up as part of the EuroLED project to develop a nanoscale phosphor system for white LEDs based on a fundamentally new concept. By generating an energy-efficient warm white light, they hope to increase the public’s acceptance of energy-saving LEDs.

Nuremberg: Wireless sensors are an essential component in the Industrial Internet of Things IIoT. To record and transmit various kinds of physical pa-rameters and data, such sensors require permanent power. Fraunhofer IIS has developed a self-sufficient power supply specifically for IIoT sensors that uses existing vibrations, for example from machines, to generate electrical ener-gy. Thus, these sensors can be used for condition monitoring in production and require neither power cables nor constant battery changes.

At ICE 2019, the Fraunhofer Institutes for Applied Polymer Research IAP, for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB and for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP will present innovative technologies for sustainable food packaging. They each have extensive expertise in processing, process development and control, the development of special polymer films and the deposition of ultra-thin layers for the packaging industry.

Power converters are among the most frequently failing components of wind turbines and are thus associated with high costs and long downtimes. A better understanding of the causes of their failure is vital in the race to develop effective protective measures and thus improve the profitability of turbine operation. A project consortium composed of operators and manufacturers of turbines, semiconductors, and converters is working closely together with research and academic partners in the project ReCoWind, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economics Affairs and Energy (BMWi). Within the three year project duration, field data from various sites and turbine types are being analyzed, damage models derived, and experimental tests performed on components.

Making electric cars lighter also involves reducing the weight of the motor. One way to do that is by constructing it from fiber-reinforced polymer materials. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT are working together with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT to develop a new cooling concept that will enable polymers to be used as motor housing materials. And that’s not the only advantage of the new cooling concept: it also significantly increases the power density and efficiency of the motor compared to the state of the art.

"A multiyear, publicly funded research program called System integrated Multi-Material Lightweight Design for E-mobility (SMiLE) took a holistic approach to reducing mass and costs for the entire body-in-white structure (shown here) of a battery-electric vehicle by applying combinations of composites and non-ferrous metals."

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has many advantages: custom manufacturing, flexible production and easy customization, for example. Yet many products have a high surface roughness and porosity. The post processing of the thus fabricated parts is time consuming and often a significant cost factor for manufacturers. Technical coatings open up new possibilities for the AM market, especially in industrial production. In a joint project, researchers from the Belgian NPO Sirris and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP have investigated technical coatings for additive manufacturing (TCAM) with promising results.

Better batteries for a greater range of electric vehicles – this is the goal of the “EMBATT-goes-FAB” project sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. For that reason, the four project partners thyssenkrupp System Engineering GmbH, IAV GmbH, Daimler AG and the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS are developing bipolar batteries and processes for their fabrication. Thanks to their unique stacked layout, a higher storage capacity and, ultimately, a greater range of the vehicle are achieved using the same surface area. The innovative battery technology will now be taken to the next level of maturity and thus one step closer to industrialization.

Adhesive bonding has enormous technological benefits when bonding processes are performed effectively. The key to the latter is quality workforce training – something the Training Center for Adhesive Bonding Technology at Fraunhofer IFAM has provided for more than two decades. The Workforce Training and Technology Transfer department at Fraunhofer IFAM has been led by Prof. Dr. Andreas Groß since 1994 and incorporates the Training Center for Adhesive Bonding Technology as an accredited training organization. Worldwide more than a thousand people are now being trained every year. During the recent 17th Bremen Bonding Days the ten thousandth course participant was honored by Andreas Groß and Dr. Erik Meiß, Head of the Training Center for Adhesive Bonding Technology.