Menu

Image: Person operating a tablet on an industrial machine with robots; Copyright: panuwat - stock.adobe.com

AI in the Plastics Industry: Sustainability & Innovation

11.04.2024

AI is revolutionising modern industry. Thanks to it, complex processes can be automated or efficiency increased. In the plastics industry, AI not only plays a decisive role in the optimisation of production processes and the development of new materials. It also enables more precise waste sorting and therefore better recycling – a benefit for the environment!
Read more
Image: completed demonstrator; Copyright: DLR

Thermoplastics in aircraft construction – less weight, more future

20.09.2023

Every gram counts: In aviation, a weight reduction of just one kilogram can save up to 25,000 litres of fuel annually. Plastics can be the key to this. The DLR uses carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplastics to make aircraft fuselages more resource-efficient. Within the framework of the Large Passenger Aircraft project, fundamentally new technologies have even been developed for this purpose.
Read more
Image: Black rubber granules; Copyright: alexstand

Intelligent rubber materials

12.09.2023

Materials scientists at the University of Stuttgart and pharmacists at the University of Tübingen have developed smart polymer materials that can autonomously adapt to environmental conditions, making them ideal for soft robotics and exoskeletons.
Read more
Image: Recycled thermoplastic carbon fiber reinforced UD tape reflected on the tray against a gray background; Copyright: Fraunhofer IPT

Unwinding in high quality: Continuously detached and recycled thermoplastic carbon fiber tapes with a new recycling approach

17.08.2023

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a recycling process to recover used fiber composite material from pressure tanks and use it for new lightweight products. The process preserves over 90 percent of the materials' mechanical properties. This contributes to the sustainable production of thermoplastic fiber composite products.
Read more
Image: A stool is printed at K 2022 with the help of ADAM software; Copyright: IKV/Fröls

Digital meets material: a software transforms additive manufacturing

17.08.2023

ADAM could redefine plastics manufacturing. A big claim, but not without reason: Behind the acronym ADAM is a software called "Advanced Dimension Additive Manufacturing" that caused a real stir at K 2022. The impressive result of this software in action? A high-performance screw extruder controlled by an agile jointed-arm robot.
Read more
Image: Robots at work in the Automated Lab of the Henkel Inspiration Center; Copyright: Henkel AG

Automated Lab: Robots optimise adhesive development

10.05.2023

Robots already take over a large number of monotonous, repetitive tasks today – freeing up time and resources for creative and more exciting tasks. Henkel is also automating work steps in its new Inspiration Center Düsseldorf (ICD). In a data-driven laboratory, new adhesive formulations are automatically prepared and tested around the clock.
Read more