Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology
Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology

Metal lightweight materials

Metal lightweight materials include aluminum, magnesium, high-strength steels and titanium. Innovative forming and joining processes enable their broad application in numerous fields such as automotive and mechanical engineering, aerospace industry and commercial vehicle construction.

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  • Solutions in metal lightweight construction remain the principal short-term and midterm lightweight application in the automotive industry
  • High-strength steels, aluminum and metal foams make up the largest markets of lightweight construction in mechanical engineering
  • Development of production-oriented technologies, particularly for aluminum alloys
  • Reduction of material utilization for unvaried materials (e.g. due to tailored blanks)
  • Utilization of lighter materials (e.g. aluminum alloys, high-strength steels)
  • Modification of the product structure (e.g. by lattice structures)
  • Evaluations of resource efficiency have to be applied along the entire life cycle

Development of process chains

  • Market analysis
  • Investigation of process chains
  • Process optimization
  • Cost-benefit calculation
  • Development of manufacturing concepts
  • Planning and technological dimensioning of processes, tools and machines

Development and evaluation

  • Market analysis
  • Feasibility studies
  • Technology development
  • Development of characteristic process values and ideal manufacturing strategies
  • Benchmarking
  • Numerical simulation
  • Manufacturing of prototypes
  • Optimization of topology