The goal of this strategic field is to increase production efficiency by combining conventional composite structure manufacturing processes with additive manufacturing – particularly additive extrusion.
In doing so, the entire process chain from design to quality-assured manufacturing is considered. A special focus is on the functionalisation of materials and the additive generation of thermoplastic, continuous fibre-reinforced structures by means of additive extrusion, the manufacture of continuous fibre-reinforced semi-finished products or free form structures based on in-situ impregnation, resulting in high-performance components made of cost-effective semi-finished products. Research in this strategic field includes process integration, material development and characterisation, extrusion technology, quality assurance as well as simulation and construction methods.