Additive manufacturing processes are conquering their place in industrial production. "In most cases, however, they are not a replacement for conventional technologies, but rather an extension and supplement to conventional processes. In combination, this makes it possible to overcome previously existing limitations of conventional material constellations and processes," emphasizes Prof. Dr. Frank Brückner from the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS Dresden. Such combinations and their fields of application are the focus of the special show and specialist forum "Additive + Hybrid - New manufacturing technologies in use", which will take place from February 5 to 8, 2019 as part of the Intec and Z industrial trade fairs in Leipzig. At the specialist forum, experts from industry and research will shed light on new possibilities for functional integration, technology selection from a cost-effectiveness perspective, quality assurance processes and the benefits of new material concepts and multi-material production.

New multi-material concepts

From the symbiosis between coating technology and materials expertise, Brückner and his team in the Generate and Print business unit are developing, for example, filigree, additively manufactured microstructures that can extend the service life of aircraft engines and contribute to a considerable reduction in kerosene consumption and pollutant emissions. The Fraunhofer IWS will be presenting applications from the aerospace and mechanical engineering sectors as well as examples for energy technology in a special show and expert forum at Intec and Z. Some of them have been developed in close cooperation with the AGENT-3D consortium.

In the strategy project, companies and research institutions are working to secure Germany's technological leadership in the key areas of additive-generative manufacturing. "Additive technologies make it possible, for example, to process materials that are difficult to machine. It is also possible to combine additive and ablative processes as well as different materials. These combinations can be used to create complex, topology-optimized components with precise final contours and reduced material usage," explains Brückner, pointing out further advantages of multi-material production, such as the efficient combination of wear and corrosion protection or the introduction of electrical conductivity into components. "The starting point must always be to choose the best way to manufacture a part and to see whether the use of additive processes leads to improvements in the product and in the process. If the conventional variant proves to be more favorable, then it should be used," says Brückner.
Ina Reichel, freelance journalist / ag