Savvy Screws
Another transfer project of the collaborative research center “high-strength aluminum-based lightweight materials for safety components” is ready to launch
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Dr. Kristin Hockauf, research assistant in the Department of Materials and Surface Engineering at the Chemnitz University of Technology, determines the surface roughness of a high-strength aluminum screw with a stylus instrument. Photo: Wolfgang Schmidt
It is rated among the largest research projects at the Chemnitz University of Technology: the collaborative research center 692 “high-strength aluminum-based lightweight materials for safety components” (HALS) that is financially supported by the German research Foundation (DFG) with approximately 30 million euros. The collaborative research center makes special contributions to the development of ultrafine granular structures that occur in the massive plastic deformation of light metals and show interesting mechanical properties such as high strength with simultaneously good deformability. Such materials are especially of practical value against the background of important topics like the energy revolution. Among experts, the basic research in Chemnitz attracted a lot of interest for example in the material sciences.
In order to put the research results as fast into practice as possible, the DFG supports so-called “Transfer Projects”. The Chemnitz collaborative research center 692 is ready to launch its seventh transfer project. In the following years the integration of effective heat treatment strategies in the manufacturing process of high-strength aluminum screws is the main focus. “For the optimization of the manufacturing process of screws, we use findings that we obtained over the course of twelve years from deformation and heat treatment of ultrafine aluminum alloys”, project leader Prof. Dr. Thomas Lampke explains. Dr. Kristin Hockauf, also leader of the dual leadership project, adds “the in the course of the research developed method of Precipitation Engineering is to be transferred into a process chain of the industry.” The main aim is to utilize the positive effects of a reduced heat treatment and an increased strength in a novel process chain.
The altered precipitation kinetic of the aluminum materials after an inhomogeneous and with change of directions afflicted deformation in model and process chain trials is investigated together with the practice partner EJOT GmbH & Co. KG, Bad Berleburg. PD Dr. Ralph Hellmig, Head of Research and Development in the field of Screws at EJOT, looks forward to the future close cooperation with the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering of the Chemnitz University of Technology: ”The background knowledge of the Chemnitz researchers of many years on fundamental and application-oriented research in the field of deformation and heat treatment of aluminum alloys is extremely valuable for our company and the sector. An advantage is the scientifically proven property and efficiency improvement of the Precipitation Engineering.
The EJOT GmbH & Co. KG is a medium-sized group of companies with its main focus on connection technology. Founded in 1922, the company expanded over the last decades and is today with over 2.600 employees an important supplier of the automotive and construction industry.
Prof. Dr. Martin F.-X. Wagner, spokesperson of the collaborative research center, is proud that the Department of Materials and Surface Engineering at the Chemnitz University of Technology already successfully placed the fourth transfer project: “The strategic fit matches perfectly with our collaborative research center. The integration of Precipitation Engineering in the process chain for the manufacturing of high-strength aluminum screws represents a major step towards a generation of high-strength aluminum materials and provides access to the industrial practice.” The relevance of the materials investigated so far in the collaborative research center will be seen well beyond its twelve-year duration. “This way, indeed, savvy screws – with a lot of Chemnitz know-how – are developed,” Wagner says.
Homepage of the collaborative research center “High-strength aluminum-based lightweight materials for safety components”: http://www.sfb692.tu-chemnitz.de/index.php.en
Further information is available from Prof. Dr. Thomas Lampke, phone +49 371 531 36163, e-mail thomas.lampke@mb.tu-chemnitz.de and Prof. Dr. Martin Wagner, phone +49 371 531 38683, e-mail martin.wagner@mb.tu-chemnitz.de
Matthias Fejes
06.02.2017
