Light­weight engi­neering

Save resources? Reduce weight? Save costs?
Our answer is – made lighter! 

The world we live in is char­ac­terised by rapid change and the chal­lenges that come with it. This devel­op­ment certainly affects your industry as well – new prod­ucts need to be devel­oped within the shortest possible time, costs ideally need to drop while quality remains the same, and please do so while saving weight and resources simul­ta­ne­ously. It’s quite diffi­cult to always do justice to this. But the answer is quite simple – keep it light.

You heard right. Keep it light! Thanks to our cross-industry exper­tise in light­weight design, we can offer you exactly the inno­v­a­tive solu­tions that will help you develop and produce a product in a way that is faster, lighter, more resource-effi­cient and more durable.

How do we lighten your load?

  1. High-end engi­neering solu­tions in the field of light­weight design and compos­ites
  2. Combining state-of-the-art methods and tools
  3. Holistic service, from concept to quality assur­ance in produc­tion
  4. Inno­v­a­tive solu­tions – inspired by inter­dis­ci­pli­nary and inter­sec­toral expe­ri­ence
  5. Use of our network of research and industry part­ners

In which disci­plines can you use our light­weight design exper­tise?

Compos­ites Simu­la­tion Opti­mi­sa­tion

Disci­pline 1:
Compos­ites

Thanks to our many years of expe­ri­ence in the field of compos­ites, we know that fibre compos­ites are more than just an alter­na­tive to metallic mate­rials. They are often simply the better solu­tion when it comes to using the advan­tages of light­weight design across all indus­tries. This is due to the many posi­tive prop­er­ties that these mate­rials can also offer you, such as:

  1. High stiff­ness and/​or strength at low density
  2. Good fatigue behav­iour of fibre composite lami­nates
  3. Very low thermal expan­sion behav­iour
  4. The highest level of corro­sion resis­tance as well as resis­tance to many chem­ical substances

How does our exper­tise help you make the most of the advan­tages of these mate­rials?

A

Focus on light­weight design Exper­tise:
Highly qual­i­fied engi­neers from the fields of boat­building and aero­space engi­neering who have success­fully imple­mented light­weight design solu­tions in approx. 150 projects.

B

Well thought-out solu­tions:
By simu­lating composite struc­tures using inno­v­a­tive calcu­la­tion tools and opti­mising compo­nents using state-of-the-art methods and tools, the poten­tial of these mate­rials is fully exploited.

C

Exten­sive expe­ri­ence in the real­i­sa­tion of manu­fac­turing projects:
Recog­ni­tion and consid­er­a­tion of manu­fac­turing chal­lenges as early as in the concept phase, on-site support of the produc­tion process if desired.

Refer­ence projects in the disci­pline of compos­ites

Auto­mo­tive Maritime Wind energy Contact

Disci­pline 2:
Simu­la­tion

For us, light­weight design means enabling maximum weight savings for our customers in struc­tures subject to high loads while main­taining stiff­ness and safety, or maximising struc­tural perfor­mance with iden­tical weight. Simu­la­tion plays an impor­tant role in these devel­op­ment processes:

  1. Accel­er­ated product devel­op­ment with simul­ta­neous reduc­tion of costs through numer­ical simu­la­tion
  2. Reli­able veri­fi­ca­tion of compo­nent safety
  3. Fastest possible design of the most effi­cient struc­ture according to require­ments

Why should you work with us in the area of simu­la­tion?

A

Exten­sive exper­tise:
Simu­la­tion-driven compo­nent devel­op­ment using the finite element method (FEM) has been part of our DNA for over 12 years.

B

Very broad range of services:
We perform simu­la­tions for you to conduct analyses for linear and non-linear statics, vibra­tion, frac­ture mechanics and dynamic prob­lems – implicit and explicit – such as crash and impact situ­a­tions.

C

Customised solu­tions:
In addi­tion to market-leading simu­la­tion tools, we develop our own inno­v­a­tive calcu­la­tion tools that support your product devel­op­ment in the best possible way.

Refer­ence projects in the disci­pline of simu­la­tion

Auto­mo­tive Maritime Contact

Disci­pline 3:
Opti­mi­sa­tion

The disci­pline of opti­mi­sa­tion is inex­tri­cably linked to the topic of light­weight design. There­fore, the opti­mi­sa­tion of struc­tures is our major disci­pline in order to develop the best possible light­weight solu­tion for our customers. For us, the process of opti­mi­sa­tion includes the following aspects:

  1. Consid­er­a­tion of the prevailing require­ments and boundary condi­tions
  2. Finding the optimal, target-oriented trade-off between the para­me­ters: weight, stiff­ness, strength, complexity, produc­tion costs and mate­rial costs.
  3. Minimising the use of mate­rials for maximum resource savings

What are the bene­fits of opti­mi­sa­tion by us?

A

Maximum util­i­sa­tion of light­weight design poten­tial:
Use of the latest tools and methods for shape opti­mi­sa­tion, size opti­mi­sa­tion, topology opti­mi­sa­tion and layup opti­mi­sa­tion in the area of compos­ites.

B

Wide range of appli­ca­tions:
Exploita­tion of the poten­tial for light­weight design for existing indi­vidual compo­nents extending to completely new devel­op­ments.

C

Perfect combi­na­tion of areas of exper­tise:
 To opti­mise your compo­nents, we make the best possible use of our strengths: exten­sive expe­ri­ence, know-how in struc­tural mechanics and the simu­la­tion power of our soft­ware and hard­ware.

Refer­ence projects in the disci­pline of opti­mi­sa­tion

Auto­mo­tive Maritime Auto­mo­tive Contact

Customers and part­ners

Further industry focus

New Mobility

Auto­mo­tive

Wind energy

Maritime

Would you like to achieve your goals more easily with us?

You are welcome to discuss your challenges in lightweight design with us without obligation. Make an appointment today. We look forward to talking with you.

Book an appointment now

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