Lightweight Campus In Wolfsburg Starts Research

Lighter materials and new production technologies help to make cars in large quantities more environmentally friendly. The Open Hybrid Lab Factory research campus in Wolfsburg is developing key technologies for future vehicle construction. It was inaugurated on September 22, 2016.

Federal Ministry of Education and Research funds campus

The federal research campus program supports research in the Open Hybrid Lab Factory with up to 30 million euros. The lightweight campus consortium was successful in the competition, led by the Lower Saxony Research Center for Vehicle Technology at the TU Braunschweig and with the involvement of industrial partners such as Volkswagen AG as one of nine funded campuses. A total of over 90 million euros are being provided for equipment and initial research projects by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the State of Lower Saxony, the City of Wolfsburg and industrial partners. 60 million of these were invested in building construction, plant technology and initial setup. In the next 15 years, research projects with a volume of over 200 million euros are to be carried out in the Lab Factory.

Bionics

From water lily to aircraft construction

Further develop hybrid construction for vehicle construction

In the lightweight construction campus, the entire value chain for hybrid components is mapped, from the conception to the manufacture of reinforcement textiles and the hybrid manufacturing processes to recycling. The aim is to create the basis for the production of particularly light and therefore energy and resource-efficient vehicle bodies and drive systems in large quantities. To this end, researchers are developing the so-called hybrid construction method. Materials with different properties such as metal, plastic and textile structures are combined to form components that are as light as possible. They should offer the same high level of safety and performance as conventional cars.

To make this possible, experts from universities, research institutions and industry work together at eye level in the research factory. Under the leadership of the Lower Saxony Research Center for Vehicle Technology (NFF) at the TU Braunschweig, Volkswagen, BASF, institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the TU Clausthal and the University of Hanover, among others, are cooperating as well as a large number of other companies. Internationally active technology leaders bring their skills to the academic research process and vice versa. Students and young scientists can also benefit from the perspectives and experiences of the partners. The new competence and research center for economical lightweight construction and material and manufacturing technologies is in Wolfsburg, not far from the main plant of Volkswagen AG.created in the immediate vicinity of the Mobile Life campus. (kj)

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