The Laboratory for Plastics Technology aims to achieve holistic plastics-orientated product and process development by networking teaching, applied research and transfer to industry. This practice-orientated focus creates a sustainable basis for economic innovation.

The development of interdisciplinary technical and methodological expertise focuses on

Expertise in plastics:

Materials and compounding

• Thermoplastics
• Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE)
• Elastomers, in particular liquid silicones (LSR)
• Thermosets

Moulds

• Design of injection moulds
• Digitalised correction and release process
• Variothermal mould temperature control

Manufacturing process

• Injection moulding
• Extrusion
• Extrusion blow moulding
• Thermoforming
• pressing
• Welding
• 3D printing

Industries and products

• Mechanical engineering
• Automotive
• Medicine

Digitalisation

• Products and tools e.g. stripe light
• Point cloud technology
• Reverse engineering
• CAD / CAE
• Injection moulding simulation using Sigmasoft & Moldex3D

Sustainability:

• Life Cycle Assessment LCA

The current focus is on:

• Processing of cross-linking materials, such as liquid silicone rubber (LSR), in the injection moulding process
• Research into adhesion mechanisms
  • Adhesion between LSR and thermoplastic
  • Adhesion between LSR and LSR
  • Adhesion between UV coating and thermoplastic
• Variothermal temperature control of injection moulds (thermoplastics and thermosets)
• Use of AI to optimise injection moulding processes
• Moulding of nanostructures and microstructures in the injection moulding process
• In-mould coating using UV lacquer
• Sealing concepts for fuel cell applications
• Hot gas welding of plastics
• Design and calculation of machine settings for the injection moulding process
• Optimised release process for moulded parts and tools using point cloud technology
• Plastic-compatible design and dimensioning of products

Further areas of activity are:

• Process optimisation, automation and process control of processing methods: Injection moulding, extrusion, extrusion blow moulding, thermoforming and pressing of thermosets
• Simulation of injection moulding and extrusion processes
• Damage analyses
• Plastic detection and testing
• Welding of plastics using hot gas, hot plate and ultrasonic welding

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