From the Sector

On the occasion of the Techtextil fair in Frankfurt, the Chairman of VDMA’s Walter Reiners-Stiftung Foundation, Peter D. Dornier, has awarded prizes to seven successful young engineers. For the first time, the Foundation awarded two Sustainability Awards. They are awarded to academic works in which, for example, solutions for resource-saving products and technologies are developed.

A Sustainability Prize in the category Project Work, endowed with 3.000 euros was awarded to Simon Hoebel, TU Dresden, for his thesis on recycled thermoplastic fibres for composite components.
Marina Michel, TU Dresden, received a Sustainability Award in the category Master, worth 3.500 euros. The topic of her master thesis was the functionalisation of yarns for the filtration of micro- and nanoplastics from water.

A Promotion Prize in the category Project Work, endowed with 4.000 euros, was awarded to a student group from RWTH Aachen. The teamwork of Luis Gleissner, Leopold Habersbrunner, Frederic Olbrich and Frederik Schicks was the construction of a test rig for tests on oil-adsorbing textiles.

Felix Zerbes, RWTH Aachen, was awarded a Promotion Prize of 3.500 euros in the category Master. He developed a technical solution for air jet weaving to improve the quality of woven fabric.

On 27 November 2021, the Scientific Award for International Sustainable Aviation and Energy Society (SARES Award) was awarded to Professor Dr Thomas Gries from the Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University. The award ceremony took place during the closing ceremony of the International Symposium on Sustainable Aviation (ISSA) in a hybrid format online and simultaneously at Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand.
 
With the award, the committee recognised the ongoing contribution of Pro-fessor Gries and the Institut für Textiltechnik to the digitisation and bio-transformation of the textile sector, as well as the Institute as a place of innovation for sustainable aviation.

Examples of this include the development of 3D braided ceramic matrix composite components for aircraft engines, which were researched together with partners in a Horizon 2020 project (EU project AllOxITD). The ongoing Chrysomallos research project as another example, funded under the national aeronautics research programme in Germany, aims to develop a completely new and sustainable high-performance insulator for aircraft cabins based on aerogels. These have a significantly lower weight than the glass fibre mats used up to now, while providing the same insulation performance, and solve the problem of the previously high manufacturing costs of aerogels. The aim of the project is to develop an insulation material with reduced density (reduction of more than 20 percent). To this end, a new type of insulation material based on aerogel is to be developed. The basis is an aerogel fleece (0.06 W/mK at 28 kg/m³), which has already been developed as part of a dissertation at the Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University (Mroszczok, J.: 2019).

The aviation industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Due to this fact and its importance for society and the global economy, it needs to make special efforts towards sustainability. The ISSA, an international multi-disciplinary symposium, aims to address current issues in aviation such as improving aircraft fuel efficiency, promoting the use of biofuels, minimising environmental impact, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and reducing engine and aircraft noise. ^

Through the award, SARES honours scientists and researchers whose work on sustainable aviation issues has made an important contribution at the international level. The selection is based on the scientific publications of the applicant or nominee, the h-index, i.e. the key figure for the worldwide perception of a scientist in professional circles, the project topics and the project results.

The AVK – Industrievereinigung Verstärkte Kunststoffe – has once again presented its Innovation Awards to companies, institutes and their partners. Three composites innovations were recognised in each of the three categories – “Innovative Products/Applications”, “Innovative Processes” and “Research and Science” – at the new event JEC Forum DACH on 23 November 2021, the first edition of which was held in Frankfurt.

“As usual, the submissions included a lot of very interesting and promising products and processes this year. The Innovation Awards highlight the outstanding efficiency, cost-effectiveness and sustainability of fibre-reinforced plastics as well as the companies and institutes operating in the sector,” explains Dr. Elmar Witten, Managing Director of the AVK. The jury of leading experts from the industry honoured the following innovations this year:

Category “Research and Science”
First place in the “Research and Science” category was awarded to the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for its Bondline Control Technology (BCT). This innovative process is used for quality control and assurance of bonded joints. The core element is a porous fabric which is applied to a joining surface using an epoxy adhesive or matrix resin. Peeling away the fabric creates a chemically reactive and undercut surface and can also be used as a test to check adhesion to the substrate. BCT has potential in a variety of possible applications. For example, peel ply can be replaced by BCT fabric to produce composite components with an optimised joining surface. The cost-effective BCT peel test is suitable for coupon testing and process control. In addition, the combined adhesion test and surface pre-treatment can be used for quality assurance of bonded repairs on fibre composite structures.

Second place was taken by the Institute of Textile Technology (ITA) at RWTH Aachen University and its partners AEROVIDE GmbH, Altropol Kunststoff GmbH, Basamentwerke Böcke GmbH, TechnoCarbon Technologies GbR with “StoneBlade – Lightweight construction with granite for the wind industry”. This innovation enables manufacturers to reduce the amount of non-recyclable materials used in rotor blade construction. At the same time, it reduces the weight of these components and improves the mechanical properties relating to the stability of wind turbines. The innovative approach replaces glass-fibre reinforced plastic in the blade components with hard rock – a natural, cost-effective and recyclable lightweight material. The slabs of rock are cut and ground to a thickness of just a few millimetres and embedded in a fibre composite laminate with carbon fibre, which stabilises them for alternating load cases. The pre-stressed material is pressure-stable in the composite and can absorb tensile forces in the event of continuously alternating loads without any loss of stiffness.

Third place went to the Dresden University of Technology – Institute for Lightweight Construction and Plastics Technology (ILK) with its partner Mercedes Benz AG for the interdisciplinary development of a highly integrated inductive charging module for electric vehicles. The ultra-thin charging module was designed to make optimum use of space in the vehicle underbody without reducing ground clearance. An interdisciplinary approach was adopted for the development process. This involved the electrical, mechanical and process characterisation of high-frequency Litz wires, ferromagnetic foil and metal wire cloth as well as the creation of a simulation model. The result is a demonstrator for a charging system with a structural height of 15 mm and a total weight of 8 kg. It achieves a transmission efficiency of up to 92 percent at 7.2 kW nominal power and active air cooling. The hardware demonstrator was fabricated in a 3-step process using RTM and VARI techniques.

Overview of all the winners in the three categories:
Category “Innovative Products/Applications”
1st Place: “Traffic signs from Nabasco (N-BMC)” – Nabasco Products BV and Lorenz Kunststofftechnik GmbH, partners: Pol Heteren BV and NPSP BV
2nd Place: “Novel, ultratough vinyl ester resin for the construction of large marine vessels” Evonik Operations GmbH
3rd Place: “Air intake housing with a multi-material design for gas turbines” – MAN Energy Solutions SE, Leichtbau-Zentrum Sachsen GmbH and Leichtbau-Systemtechnologien KORROPOL GmbH.
Category “Innovative Processes”
1st Place: “In-mould wrapping” off-tool, film-coated, fibre composite components for exterior applications – BMW Group, Partner: Renolit SE
2nd Place: “Adaptive automated repair of composite structural components in the aviation sector” – Lufthansa Technik AG, Partner: iSAM AG
3rd Place: “Automated surface pre-treatment using VUV excimer lamps” – CTC GmbH
Category “Research and Science”
1st Place: “Bondline Control Technology (BCT)” – German Aerospace Center (DLR)
2nd Place: “StoneBlade – Lightweight construction with granite for the wind industry” – Institute of Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University, Partners: AEROVIDE GmbH, Altropol Kunststoff GmbH, Basamentwerke Böcke GmbH, TechnoCarbon Technologies GbR
3rd Place: “Interdisciplinary development of a highly integrated inductive charging module for electric vehicles” – Dresden University of Technology – Institute for Lightweight Construction and Plastics Technology (ILK), Partner: Mercedes Benz AG

Submissions for the next Innovation Award can be made from the end of January 2022.

Kai-Chieh Kuo, PhD student at the Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen University, was awarded the German Textile Mechanical Engineering 2021 Best Master's Thesis Award for his master's thesis entitled "Modification of the tube weaving process of fine yarns for the production of woven ultra-low profile stent grafts". The prize is endowed with 3,500€. Peter D. Dornier, Chairman of the Board of the Walter Reiners-Stiftung (Foundation), virtually presented the award on the occasion of the ADD International Textile Conference on 9 November 2021.

Minimally invasive endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) with textile stent-graft systems is nowadays a clinically established therapy procedure for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) – pathological bulges of the aorta. Due to the thick profile of the folded stent graft systems, there is currently a high risk of injuring narrowed or highly angulated access vessels from the inside during implantation. Stent graft systems with smaller profiles could provide an improvement, which could overcome complicated access routes through a lower bending stiffness. One possible approach for reducing the system profiles is the use of thin-walled tubular woven fabrics made of ultrafine multifilament yarns (≤20 dtex) as graft material.

Up to now, it has not been possible to process the fine yarns with the required high thread density (>200 threads/cm) and the available weaving technology in order to guarantee sufficient tightness against blood.

In his master's thesis, Kai-Chieh Kuo made high-density tubular weaving of ultra-fine filament yarns possible for the first time by means of suitable modifications to a shuttle loom as well as adaptations in the weaving preparation. In particular, he developed a new innovative reed technology that reduces warp thread friction during the shedding process and thus improves the process stability of the dense tube weaving process of fine yarns.

With the help of the process modification, it was then possible to produce high-density, thin-walled tubular woven fabrics, which were positively evaluated with regard to their suitability for a stent graft. Above all the potential of these tubular fabrics lies in their extremely thin-walled fabric profile, which seals well against blood. By using these new types of tubular fabrics as graft material for stent grafts, the system profile of the folded stent graft system can be reduced without having to compromise the blood tightness of the implant. The technology developed by Mr Kuo is not only applicable to stent graft systems, but also offers great possibilities for use in all other endovascular implants such as trans catheter heart valves, covered stents and small-lumen vascular prostheses.

The ITA Group, consisting of the Institute for Textile Technology of RWTH Aachen University (ITA), their research and development service provider ITA Technologietransfer GmbH (ITA GmbH) are proud to announce their new strategic positioning: in order to better respond to actual industrial demands and needs, ITA decided to install a partnership model as of January, 25 2022.

The ITA Group comprises the ITA of RWTH Aachen University, a leading research and qualification research institute with 400 employees in the areas of fibre-based high-performance materials, textile semi-finished products and their manufacturing processes and the ITA Technologietransfer GmbH, the partner of the industry in R&D, providing technology and knowledge transfer, as well as offering comprehensive solutions along the entire textile value chain.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Gries, Director of ITA, explains the new partnership model:” The impact of the Covid-19-crisis has shown once more the importance of long-term trustworthy business relationships. Therefore, we are establishing our new partnership model where we will even more closely cooperate with our actual and future industrial partners, providing them with the latest technologies and innovations from R&D side. We will initiate networking and workgroup meetings, offer access to ITA´s large machine parks and labs, carry out joint partner projects and commonly organized publicly-funded projects as well as training for partner´s employees and HR opportunities.”

Dr. Christoph Greb, Scientific Director of ITA: “We are very happy to initiate this new partnership model where science, research and industry are working shoulder to shoulder in pre-competitive projects on our future projects along the entire value-chain from the fibre to the final component in order to close a missing gap and form innovative paths forward in various industrial fields.”

During an initial session of three Innovation days in hybrid format, ITA successfully introduced in September 2021 the first industrial partner projects which will be carried out, among them “Recycling of composite battery cases”, “Recycling of composite pressure vessels”, “Natural Fibre Composites”, “Textile Structures with focus on biaxial Warp-Knitted Structures”, “Factory of the Future”, “Tapes and Hybrid Yarns”.

The next opportunity to meet with ITA is at JEC DACH in Frankfurt (November 23 and 24 2021).

• Digital Pioneer Awards ceremony at the digitalCHURCH
• ITA Academy GmbH was honoured to receive the Digital Pioneer Award at the Digital Summit Event in Aachen on June 09, 2021.

The Digital Pioneer Award is given to companies that drive digitalisation with digital business models, processes or digital products. ITA Academy GmbH was honoured with the Digital Capability Center (DCC) Aachen and its support of companies in their digital transformation.

Using the latest didactic methods, sophisticated solution concepts and state-of-the-art technologies, the DCC Aachen supports people in keeping up with the digital future and becoming pioneers in digital transformation. In order to make innovative solutions such as AI and digital assistance systems tangible, the ITA Academy founded the Digital Capability Center (DCC) Aachen together with McKinsey & Company in 2017. The DCC is a model factory 4.0 in which digital applications are demonstrated and taught using the example of a realistic factory. The DCC thus offers a learning environment for companies in which participants are supported in building up competencies in the field of digital transformation in the form of practical work-shops.

The digital pioneers are to be publicised as best-practice examples in order to sensitize regional SMEs to the topic of digitisation. Around the award of the digital pioneers, the digitalHUB Aachen e.V. rolls out effective marketing activities. The pioneers achieve high visibility through the various planned campaigns and advertising opportunities.

AMAC cooperates with ITA (Institute for Textile Technology of RWTH Aachen University and their ITA GmbH) for the business development in composites 

As of April 19th, 2021, AMAC is pleased to announce its cooperation with the Institute for Textile Technology, ITA, of RWTH Aachen University and their ITA GmbH. The aim of the cooperation is to strengthen and develop their business activities in composites.

ITA, as one of the largest institutes on the campus of the excellence University RWTH Aachen, Germany, develops complete solutions from the manufacturing of the fiber itself over the processing of textile intermediates with thermoplastic and thermoset resins, textile-based part manufacturing, capabilities such as braiding, pultrusion and in-situ impregnation of textile preforms. Top 3 focused industries are transportation and particularly the e-mobility sector, building and construction as well as the wind energy sector. Additionally, ITA GmbH is the partner of the industry in R&D, focusing on 8 business segments, providing technology and knowledge transfer, as well as offering comprehensive solutions along the entire textile value chain.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Gries, Director of ITA, explains the background of the strategic cooperation with focus on composites: „Our long-term experience and unmatched know-how with all aspects of continuous fibers, non-wovens and web-based reinforcements allows us to deliver to the composite manufacturers a complete technology and service offer around the development of technical textiles, from the development of glass and carbon fibers to the textile-based processing of composite parts. In all process steps of our research and developments, we focus on sustainable and recyclable solutions, an efficient cost-performance ratio, the possible use of bio-based materials and the reduction of the CO2 footprint. We are glad to cooperate with Dr. Michael Effing and AMAC in order to benefit from his door-opening network in the composites industry. “

Dr. Michael Effing, Managing Director of AMAC GmbH: „I am very happy to support the ITA to generate innovation thanks to further industrial networking and pre-competitive joint projects. ITA is indeed a one-stop source for composite solutions from the fiber to the cost-efficient manufacturing of final parts. In the context of the Covid-19 impact to the entire industry, it makes sense to bundle forces. Furthermore, ITA, with its long tradition and satisfied customers offers further valuable networking opportunities to the composites industry as well as access to relevant complementary fiber-based excellence and 250 different technologies in their machine-park with an outstanding infrastructure in Aachen.”

• WISO-Publikation der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung zeigt Chancen und Potenziale

Berlin - Die nächste Generation der drahtlosen Konnektivität, 5G, entwickelt sich in der Industrie zu einem allgegenwärtigen Thema. Gleichzeitig gilt es für einen Erfolg der Technologie noch einige Aufgaben zu lösen. Das wird in dem Papier „5G für die vernetzte Industrie“ der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in der Reihe „WISO Direkt“ deutlich, das maßgeblich am FIR an der RWTH Aachen entstand, einem Mitgliedsinstitut der Zuse-Gemeinschaft.

Die neue FES-Publikation rückt 5G aus der Perspektive der angewandten Forschung in den aktuellen gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Kontext und zeigt industrielle Anwendungsfälle von 5G auf. Chancen von 5G für fahrerlose Transportsysteme (FTS) in der Intralogistik werden ebenso vorgestellt wie vorausschauende Wartung, die sogenannte „Predictive Maintenance“ und Möglichkeiten zur Nutzung von Augmented Reality, einer Technologie, welche die Sicht des Nutzers auf die reale Welt mit computergenerierten Bildern anreichert. „5G kann den Übergang zu Industrie 4.0 vereinfachen und intensivieren, doch ist die Übernahme der Technologie in Unternehmen kein Selbstläufer. Denn noch ist der Markt relativ intransparent. Anwender wissen häufig noch nicht, wofür sie 5G einsetzen können und welche Kosten mit den Netzen verbunden sind“, erklärt Lead-Autor Vasco Seelmann, Gruppenleiter am FIR.

Einen eigenen Weg geht Deutschland mit dem Vorhalten von 5G-Frequenzen für die Industrie, was sogenannte Campus-Netze ermöglicht. Unternehmen und andere Organisationen können so unabhängig von einem Mobilfunkan-bieter auf ihrem Gelände ein eigenes Netz betreiben. Allerdings stellt die Nutzung der neuen Technologie gerade Mittelständler vor erhebliche Hürden. „Gemeinnützige, angewandte Forschung aus der Zuse-Gemeinschaft unter-stützt Unternehmen darin auszutesten, ob 5G für sie eine sinnvolle Option ist. Im internationalen Rahmen kann die praxisorientierte Forschung bei der Gestaltung von Standards als Scharnier zwischen Großunternehmen und Mittelstand wirken“, erklärt die Geschäftsführerin der Zuse-Gemeinschaft, Dr. Annette Treffkorn.

Carbon dioxide-based fibre for climate protection and interdisciplinary training with novel Smart Textiles test rig

The Wilhelm-Lorch-Stiftung, based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, honours a project of the Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University, short ITA, and awards a sponsorship prize to the ITA graduate Ricarda Wissel on 25 June 2020. She is awarded for her outstanding bachelor thesis " Implementation of elastic yarns made from carbon dioxide based thermoplastic polyurethane in socks " with funding for a subject-specific continuation of her education. The ITA receives the project sponsorship prize for the project "Smart Textiles - an interdisciplinary training course to promote young scientists in future technologies", which was submitted to the Wilhelm-Lorch-Stiftung by ITA´s PhD candidate Simon Kammler.

Carbon dioxide-based fibre from industrial waste contributes to climate protection

ITA scientist Dr.-Ing. Pavan Manvi has developed a melt spinning process at ITA for the production of elastic yarn from thermoplastic polyurethane, in which carbon dioxide is used as one of the raw materials. In her bachelor thesis, Ricarda Wissel successfully developed a process chain for the CO2-based yarn in a textile end product for the first time. In cooperation with the company FALKE and Dr Manvi, who supervised Ms. Wissel's work, the yarn was used to produce a sock (see figure "FALKE sock with carbon dioxide filaments").

By reusing carbon dioxide from industrial waste as a raw material for textile and clothing products, the carbon dioxide balance can be improved and thus contributes directly to climate protection. The sponsorship prize of the Wilhelm-Lorch-Stiftung is endowed with 6,000 € for the specialist further training of Ms. Wissel.

Interdisciplinary training with development of a new type of measuring stand for the future-oriented research field "Smart Textiles

The development of textiles with additional digital functions, so-called "Smart Textiles", is considered a future-oriented field of research. In his project submission, ITA´s doctoral candidate Simon Kammler presented a concept for a lecture series on Smart Textiles at ITA and develops a new type of measuring stand for measuring the capacity and conductivity of fibres. The project is funded by the Wilhelm-Lorch-Stiftung with a prize money of 10,000 Euro.

Smart Textiles enable the textile to interact with the environment and the human user. Today they are therefore in demand in many areas of everyday life such as sport, health, living, life and mobility and offer completely new practical solutions. In combination with digital networked services, Smart Textiles promise support and innovation in almost all situations of daily life.

With the conception of a new lecture series, Mr. Simon Kammler is supporting ITA in its goal of providing the best possible training for young scientists. The focus is on imparting far-reaching interdisciplinary skills in order to master the challenges of current fields of research.

Background:

The Wilhelm-Lorch-Stiftung supports particularly talented young people from all areas of the textile industry. Its purpose is the promotion of subject-specific education and further education as well as the promotion of projects at universities, academic schools and vocational schools, which are characterised by the sustainable communication of innovative learning content in science and research. In total, thirteen sponsorship prizes were awarded in 2020. Due to the Corona crisis, the forum of TextilWirtschaft, which is normally the venue for the awards ceremony, unfortunately had to be cancelled in 2020.

Für kleine und mittelständische Betriebe sind technologische und soziale Innovationen von entscheidender Bedeutung, um im globalen Wettbewerb bestehen zu können. Die Entwicklung neuartiger Konzepte und Werkzeuge für die Arbeitsgestaltung und -organisation in und mit mittelständischen Unternehmen ist dazu dringend erforderlich.

Das Projekt „WissProKMU – Zukunft der Arbeit: Gestalten und Vernetzen“ unterstützt deutschlandweit 26 Verbundvorhaben mit kleinen und mittelständischen Unternehmen bei der Umsetzung ihrer Digitalisierungsstrategie. Ziel von WissProKMU ist es, die Verbundprojekte miteinander zu vernetzen und den Ergebnistransfer zu unterstützen.

Die Verbundvorhaben werden im Rahmen des Programms „Zukunft der Arbeit" vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) und dem Europäischen Sozialfonds (ESF) gefördert und vom Projektträger Karlsruhe (PTKA) betreut.

Eine Übersicht über die Projekte finden Sie in der angehängten PDF.