Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS
Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS

Technical Equipment

With first-class and state-of-the-art equipment, we support our clients in research and development in plastics processing. A particular focus is on delivering viable solutions for elastomer compounds, thermoplastic polymers, and fiber-reinforced high-performance composites that are tailored to industrial-scale applications and contribute to improvements in energy and resource efficiency. Our equipment covers the full development chain from material design to validated prototype components and includes, for example, injection molding machines for producing plastic parts, extrusion lines, thermoforming machines for forming thermoplastics, and compounding facilities. The breadth of testing and analysis equipment for characterizing plastics is comprehensive, with a focus on structure–property relationships for thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers, and fiber-reinforced composites. In addition, we offer solutions for virtual process chains for material design, processing technologies, and component properties.

 At Fraunhofer Pilot Plant Center for Polymer Synthesis and Processing (PAZ) at ValuePark® Schkopau, we can transfer polymer-processing processes to an industry-relevant scale.

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UD Tape Line UD500

  • Melt impregnation
  • Working width: 500 mm
  • Temperature-controlled up to 350 °C
  • Maximum process speed: 15 m/min

UD Tape Line UD50

  • Melt impregnation
  • Working width: 50 mm
  • Temperature-controlled up to 350 °C
  • Maximum process speed: 15 m/min

Parallel, co-rotating, freely configurable twin-screw extruders

  • Laboratory to pilot scale (0.2–400 kg/h)
  • Melt pumps
  • Strand, underwater pelletizing, hot-cut
  • Mixing and conveying elements
  • Gravimetric Flexwall feeders, gravimetric agitator feeders
  • Vertical twin-screw kneader, two-screw side-feeding unit
  • Roving-dosing unit with platform scale
  • Gas dosing pump
  • Vacuum system

Single-screw extruder

  • L/D = 30, D = 45 mm
  • Maximum speed: 200 rpm

Profile extrusion

  • Calibrating table, belt take-off, saw
  • Various profile extrusion tools (plates, double-wall profiles)
  • Coextrusion

Mini compounder with conical twin screws

  • Temperature-controlled up to 350°C; co-rotating and counter-rotating conical screws; two pressure sensors for viscosity measurement; external sensors adaptable (e.g., NIR).

Mini injection-molding system

  • Temperature-controlled up to 400°C; mold temperature up to 250°C; injection pressure up to 1,200 bar; various specimen geometries.

Rubber lab kneader

  • Temperature-controlled up to 400°C, material charge up to 300 g.

Rubber internal mixer GK 1.5E

  • Intermeshing PES5 rotors
  • cavity volume 1.5 L
  • rotor speed 10–200 rpm
  • drive power max. 48 kW.

Rubber internal mixer GK 5ET

  • Intermeshing PES5 rotors
  • cavity volume 5 L
  • rotor speed 10–150 rpm
  • drive power max. 90 kW.

Laboratory rolling mill Tecnolab MM 300x600 VF

  • Roll diameter 300 mm
  • roll length 600 mm
  • roll speed < 21 rpm
  • drive power 2 × 11 kW.

Vulcanizing press RUCKS K275

  • Press force 1,000 kN
  • platen size 400 × 400 mm
  • platen distance 300 mm
  • temperature up to 250°C.

Rubber extruder EEK 45.14 Rubicon

  • Screw diameter 45 mm
  • screw length 14 D (L/D 14)
  • speed 3–70 rpm drive power 12 kW.
  • Melt pump ZRP 36/32.
  • Rheometer tool

2D Tape Layer

  • Dimensions: L = 2100 mm, W = 1200 mm, H = 2100 mm
  • Maximum laydown range in x: 500 mm; in y: 700 mm
  • Maximum velocity of the linear axes: 1 m/s
  •  Manual adjustment possible of the Z-axis

3D Tape Layer

  • Footprint approximately: L = 2800 mm, W = 2800 mm, H = 2100 mm
  • Laydown area approximately: 1000 mm x 1000 mm x 700 mm
  • Maximum speed: < 0.5 m/s

 

Injection molding compounder KM 3200–24500 MX IMC

  • Injection molding compounder with a clamping force of 3,200 tons
  • Tools with a maximum shot weight of 20,000 g (PS)
  • Configurable co-rotating twin-screw extruder for a wide range of processing tasks
  • Gravimetric dosing for free-flowing granules, powders, continuous roving and cut glass fibers, various natural fibers
  • Other configurations: injection embossing, pneumatic and hydraulic cascades, decoforming, part removal by robot, vacuum degassing, ejector cross per Euromap

Injection Molding Machine KM200–1000C2

  • Injection molding machine with a clamping force of 200 tons
  • Tools with a maximum shot weight of 476 g (PS)
  • Other configurations: injection embossing, mold temperature up to 140 °C
  • Separate second injection unit SP160, vertical, with a max shot weight of 68 g (PS)
  • Fully automated production cell with IR heating station and handling robot for manufacturing lightweight structures in the hybrid injection molding process via overmolding and forming of continuous-fiber-reinforced inserts

Engel V-Duo 7050/700

  • Vertical system (gravity-assisted forming on the OB side), HK deflection plate available
  • Automation cell with movable IR oven and robot gripper handling for organoblech or organosandwich processing
  • MuCell package (physical foaming), injection embossing package
  • Processing of high-temperature thermoplastics up to 450 °C possible

Engel Duo 8160/900

  • Horizontal system (equivalent to a conventional SGM)
  • Automation cell with movable IR oven and 2x robot gripper handling for organoblech or organosandwich processing
  • 2 x 6-axis robots: Easix KR50 R2500 and KR120 R3500 for cold and hot handling

3D Printing with polymeric materials

  • Creator3 (Manufacturer: Flashforge; Process: FDM – 2 extruders; Build volume: 250 x 200 x 300 mm)
  • Finder (Manufacturer: Flashforge; Process: FDM; Build volume: 140 x 140 x 140 mm)
  • MarkOne (Manufacturer: Markforged; Process: FDM + continuous fiber; Build volume: 320 x 132 x 154 mm)
  • Composer A4 (Manufacturer: Anisoprint; Process: FDM – 2 extruders; Continuous fiber reinforcement; Build volume: 297 x 210 x 140 mm)
  • RF2000 (Manufacturer: Renkforce; Process: FDM – 2 extruders / metal filament; Build volume: 180 x 200 x 230 mm)
  • 3ntr-A4v4 (Manufacturer: 3ntr; Process: FDM – 3 extruders; Build volume: 295 x 167 x 200 mm)
  • SpaceA 1100-500-S (Manufacturer: Yizumi; Process: Granulate – 6-axis 3D printing; Build volume: 1100 mm reach)

3D Printing with Metallic Materials

  • TruPrint 1000 (Manufacturer: Trumpf; Process: SLS – copper variants such as pure copper, CuCr1Zr, CuNi2SiCr, CuSn10; stainless steel also possible; Build volume: Ø 100 mm x H 100 mm)

Mechanical Testing

  • Servo-hydraulic, electrodynamic, and electro-mechanical testing machines (10 mN to 450 kN) with temperature chambers from -85 to 250 °C
  • Hydraulic test field for component testing (static, cyclic, multi-axis)
  • Torsion testing system up to ±100 Nm and ±135°
  • Creep test stands
  • Peel tests (drum peel test, roller peel test, caterpillar peel test, SCB test)
  • Pendulum impact tester and instrumented drop-weight system up to 1800 J; 24 m/s
  • Strain measurement: extensometer, ARAMIS systems
  • In-situ deformation equipment for scanning electron microscopes (SEM), transmission electron microscopes (TEM), and X-ray CT
  • Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA)
  • Rheometer

Service behavior under temperature and media exposure

  • Climate and temperature chambers (up to 46 m³)
  • Thermal shock chamber (-80 to 220 °C)
  • Condensation test cabinet (300 L, ISO 6270-2 CH)
  • Vacuum drying cabinet (100 L)
  • Corrosion test stands for aqueous and gaseous media

Non-destructive testing (NDT) and Microstructure Analysis

  • 3D X-ray CT inspection system with in-situ deformation (up to 5 kN)
  • Air-coupled ultrasound (scan area 1500 × 1000 mm²)
  • Acoustic scanning microscopy (MHz to GHz)
  • Active thermography methods (PPT, Lock-in, TSA)
  • X-ray diffractometry
  • Electron microscopy (ESEM, SEM, TEM)

Thermal Analysis

  • Thermomechanical and thermogravimetric analysis (TMA, TGA)
  • Rotational rheometer
  • High-pressure capillary viscometer
  • HDT heat-deflection and Vicat softening temperature measurements
  • Dielectric analysis (DEA)
  • Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
  • Shear-stem dilatometer

Rheological Measurement Methods

  • High-pressure capillary viscometer (Manufacturer: Göttfert; maximum extrusion force: 20 kN; temperature range: 60–400 °C; ISO 11443)
  • PVT instrument (Manufacturer: Göttfert; temperatures up to 500 °C; cooling rates up to 30 K/min; pressure up to 2500 bar; isobaric or isothermal measurements; ISO 17744)

Process-Related Characterization for Elastomers

  • Moving Die Rheometer (MDR) MDR (Montech)
  • Mooney viscometer MV 3000 (Montech)
  • Hardness tester Shore A (Montech)
  • Rebound elasticity tester (Bareiss)
  • Abrasion tester DIN ISO 4649:2002 (Bareiss)
  • Optical microscope, reflected light (Bresser)

  • Finite Element Method (FEM) with ANSYS, Abaqus, LS-DYNA
  • CATIA, Inventor
  • Compounding simulation (PolyFlow)
  • Material modeling and homogenization with Digimat
  • Analysis and simulation of thermoforming behavior as well as process and part optimization (e.g., cut optimization) of tape- and fabric-organosheets with LS-DYNA
  • Analysis and simulation of the thermoforming behavior of thermoplastic sandwich half-structures (e.g., honeycomb or foam cores) using newly developed FE approaches in LS-DYNA
  • Simulation of injection molding, hybrid injection molding, and foam injection molding with Moldex-3D
 

Virtual PAZ Tour

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