High-performance lightweight structures for aerospace, automotive engineering and energy technology are the focus of research at the Institute of Structures and Design.
The scientific work in Stuttgart ranges from the development and optimisation of materials and their process and joining technologies to new design approaches, the construction of full-scale demonstrators and their testing and validation in specific test facilities and in flight tests. The focus is on fiber reinforced ceramic, polymeric and hybrid composites. The development of new multidisciplinary design tools and digital models is the basis for the development of hardware.
In Augsburg, the industrialization capability for lightweight construction production is ensured. The work concentrates on new technologies of robot-assisted, automated production of lightweight structures and process-integrated quality assurance and their feedback with structure technology and design. The main strategic lines are research along process chains, full-scale capability and the consistent digital integration of all elements of the process chain in the sense of industry 4.0. The acquisition, processing and analysis of large amounts of data form the basis of the Institute's digitization strategy. Questions from research and industry can thus be answered quickly and flexibly.