The German government’s Climate Protection Plan 2050 also calls for radical CO2 savings in aircraft construction and operation. One way to achieve this is to switch from conventional to hydrogen-based propulsion systems, be it fuel cells with electric propellers or hydrogen-powered gas turbines. The integration of such drive systems and their components, such as hydrogen…
The global climate targets require, among other things, a massive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, including in aviation. Hydrogen as an alternative energy source for aircraft is a promising solution as, unlike jet-fuel, it causes hardly any direct climate-damaging emissions. One of the biggest challenges is the storage of liquid hydrogen (LH2) at extremely low…
The transfer of research results into industrial utilisation is a key objective of DLR. The Lightweight Design Innovation department supports this transfer process for the topics of the Institute of Lightweight Structures. As a link to industry, the department’s interdisciplinary team identifies high-potential research results and supports the transfer of technologies into application. The central…
The expansion of electricity generation using wind energy significantly contributes towards the climate-neutral energy supply in Germany. Due to the limited area available, future wind turbines will need to be more economical, with an improved degree of utilisation. The development of larger rotor blades is particularly important for this. However, established materials are nearing their…
The Composite Companion allows the simple integration of experimentally and numerically determined characteristic values through a well thought-out structuring of the data. It lays the foundation for efficient data analysis of material and process parameters of fibre composites. The Composite Companion allows different processes, scales and temporal resolutions to be taken into account. The realisation…
When we look at how birds fly, we can see that they modify the shape of their wings during flight. They do this because they know that to be more performant, faster and, among others, get their food, they need to adapt to different flying conditions, such as those from variable winds. Aircraft engines consist…
Additive functionalisation is multifaceted and ranges from printing local stiffening ribs to integrating assembly and adhesive aids to introducing electrical conductors into the component. The basic structure of the component can be produced using an established process, such as tape laying for the production of large-area structures. Using fibre-reinforced 3D printing (short and continuous fibre-reinforced,…
Light as plastic, but as resilient as metal – and customisable to boot. These are requirements that are placed on components in a wide range of industries from aerospace to medical technology. But how can the weight of a satellite structure for space be reduced while maintaining the same load capacity? And how can highly…
Increasing sustainability and productivity is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Therefore, in industry, there is a great need for high-precision and flexible systems for additive manufacturing. At our Institute, specially designed CNC robot kinematics with a high absolute positioning accuracy allow precisely controlled path movements in three-dimensional space. In combination with specifically…
The efficient use of energy has never been as important as it is today. In industry, process heat takes up a large share of the energy consumption that industrial plants need to produce all kinds of goods. However, the question “How can we produce more energy efficiently?” can only be answered once it has been…