K-Fair 2025

Fraunhofer IMWS will be presenting its expertise and current research highlights at the leading international trade fair for the plastics and rubber industry. The institute will be represented at the Fraunhofer Society stand under the motto “Innovations for our Future.” Among other things, the JEC Award-winning truck storage compartment flap in sandwich construction will be on display. Guests can also experience a child seat shell with load-bearing local continuous fiber reinforcement, each half of which was manufactured using hybrid injection molding from different sustainable material systems: bio-polyamide/natural fiber and polyamide recyclate, respectively. Another demonstrator component shows the potential of tape-based lightweight structures for applications in orthotics, using material-efficient additive processes and load path-specific continuous fiber reinforcement. Other highlights of the Fraunhofer IMWS trade fair presentation include application-specific UD tapes (bio-based, functionalized), sandwich samples with different cover layers, test specimens in sandwich construction, and a retrofittable tire sensor for trucks to optimize tire wear.