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Eine Person in einem weißen Laborkittel bedient eine Maschinenpresse in einem Labor.

As part of the main department of Materials Engineering, the working group established in 2021 focusses on the upstream processes in Metallurgy and Materials Engineering. This extends the research possibility in alloy design and completes the entire process chain in metal production and fabrications of the institute.

The research theme of the newly founded group will initially focus on liquid metallurgy […]. With the aid of a new vacuum induction plant (to be in operation Q4/2022), laboratory melts with a maximum volume of 20 liters can be produced in the rising and falling casting process, allowing multiple casting as well as intermediate alloys. It enables even more synergy work with other departments, including Melt Atomization and Spray Forming, as well as Heat Treatment, Lightweight Materials and Mechanical Properties.

Further equipment for the physical simulation of the industry-related thermomechanical forming processes, such as hot rolling of bar steel and sheet, is being conceptualized. It is planned that industrial intermediate slab and billets can be studied here for the effect of various parameters. Also, the group serves intermediate products for the in-house gear and bearing fabrication and heat treatment. In parallel, the microstructural evolution during thermomechanical-control processes is also investigated by other cutting edge research techniques at other departments at IWT as well as by means of thermokinetics calculation.

Innovative forming technology for the production of new metallic materials as an enabler for the decarbonization of the economy - Mat4Dekarb

An ERDF project at Leibniz-IWT is expanding the existing infrastructure to include an industry-oriented laboratory rolling mill in order to map the entire process chain from alloy development to the component on a pilot plant scale and to meet the challenges of decarbonization.

 

Companies operating in the transportation industry and in mechanical engineering in general have traditionally been under constant pressure to innovate in order to develop more efficient, lighter and more resource-efficient components and products for the global market. The current national and international measures to decarbonize the economy will lead to a further significant increase in innovation pressure in the future.

Accordingly, process and material developments will have to be stepped up considerably in the coming years. However, regional and national manufacturers and research institutions in Germany often lack the corresponding R&D capacities or the available laboratory facilities often do not cover the industrial scale (e.g. multi-stand rolling).

The aim of this Bremen ERDF project is therefore to build up corresponding R&D capacities at Leibniz-IWT in Bremen. To this end, the entire process chain of “conventional manufacturing” is to be mapped on a pilot plant scale, starting from metallurgy and alloy development through to the forming technology of the materials produced and on to the component. The processes already available at Leibniz-IWT are to be supplemented with the help of this project to complete the process chain with an industry-oriented laboratory rolling mill with corresponding peripherals (Figure).

Processing: Leibniz-IWT

Funding: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Bremen

Duration: 19.06.2024 - 31.12.2027

This project is part of the research focus “Hydrogen Technologies” at IWT Bremen and is implemented in the working group Metallurgy and Forming Technology.

Contact:
Assoc. Prof. (Thai) Dr.-Ing. Piyada Suwanpinij
Phone: +49-421/218 51470
suwanpinij@iwt-bremen.de

 

Figure: Structure of the “conventional manufacturing” process chain at Leibniz IWT - existing infrastructure and additions

Projects of Metallurgy and Forming Technology

From primary forming to component recycling – digitised, circular production chains and energy analysis with DiStEL

The DiStEL project involves experimental and digital simulation of steel recycling using the example of an electric axle. To this end, steel melts at the IWT were deliberately ‘contaminated’ with copper and tin in order to simulate their enrichment in the electric steel route. The cast blocks are further processed by the cooperation partners and return later in the project as roller bearing rings and blanks for gear wheels. At the IWT, these were and are then analysed mechanically and metallographically.

[Translate to English:] A Eingangsanalyse des Rohstahls, B Makroätzung des Gussblocks zur Analyse des Gussgefüges, C Wälzlagerinnenring mit Induktor in der Härteposition, D Hierarchie von Ontologien und Daten

Energy consumption was measured during the manufacturing steps so that individual CO2 loads could be assigned to the process as a whole as well as to the process steps and components and made traceable.

At the same time, the heat treatment ontology (HTO) is being developed to semantically map essential aspects of heat treatment. It thus contributes to the digitalization of the steel production chain and is an application ontology of the Platform MaterialDigital Core Ontology (PMDco).

 

Cooperation: Leibniz-IWT PB I / PB II; Decoit / Bosch / Schaeffler / FIZ Karlsruhe / Fraunhofer IWM / ICAMS Bochum / IEHK Aachen

Funding: MaterialDigital3, FMRTS (Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space)