Processes and Materials

The materials used play a decisive role in the switch to CO₂-neutral production. This is because their extraction, production and storage already consume energy. Together in the community, we develop innovative processes and recyclable materials to help companies develop their products and processes sustainably. We focus on the following topics, among others:

• We evaluate and optimize resource efficiency through: Recycling and remanufacturing processes, energy efficiency of machine tools and material utilization.
• We model manufacturing processes to improve quality and accelerate development times.
• We develop, characterize and process metallic lightweight materials (forming, casting, composite production, foaming, joining).

Wie lassen sich Produktionsabfälle effizient nutzen? Wir zeigen, wie das direkte Recycling von Aluminiumspänen zu Strangpressprofilen nicht nur möglich, sondern auch energieeffizient umgesetzt werden kann. Da die Prozesskette kürzer ist, sparen wir im Vergleich zum herkömmlichen Recycling bis zu 98 Prozent der Energie ein.

In the video, we show the compacting process of the billets that are later required for extrusion. After cleaning the material, this is the first step in the process chain. Compacting makes handling easier and reduces the high bulk volume of loose metal chips.

Laser deposition welding, also known as direct energy deposition (DED), offers companies considerable potential for reconditioning components and tools economically and sustainably. In contrast to traditional processes, DED can apply material specifically to locally damaged or worn areas. In this way, highly stressed components and tools can be repaired and their service life significantly extended. Companies benefit from lower costs, reduced downtimes and shorter delivery times.

DED uses less raw material, avoids waste and thus makes a significant contribution to the circular economy. By using one of the few hybrid machining centers from DMG Mori here at Leuphana University Lüneburg, even more complex components can be reconditioned.

The need for the economic and ecological development and sustainable design of components with precisely defined and predictable properties requires a very close link between material and process in the sense of a holistic and consistent approach. The research focus of the community is on the sustainable and ecological development of innovative materials and manufacturing processes - particularly for the transportation sector and medical technology. The manufacturing processes are designed to be climate and resource-friendly along the entire value chain. This is achieved by deriving process-microstructure relationships and translating them into industry.

In order to exploit the potential of lightweight and biomaterials and promote their sustainable applications, the work is aimed at alloy development for semi-finished products, process optimization and the development of composite materials. This includes the development of material properties using forming processes, for example to produce sheet metal, profiles, wires or molded parts, as well as the melting production of particle- or fiber-reinforced light metal composites.

We develop and control process windows for the targeted microstructure and property formation of manufacturing processes and create process-structure-property correlations for new innovative alloy systems with a view to increasing the performance of semi-finished products. All this is accompanied by experimental and numerical methods for alloy-process-microstructure correlations, which describe the direct relationship with the material properties.

The Leuphana Innovation Community Sustainable Production is committed to a climate-neutral, resource-efficient and economically viable transformation of manufacturing companies and brings together stakeholders from science, industry and society. Shape the future with us and become part of the community!