TU Darmstadt Patents

In additive manufacturing, plastics are currently printed
mostly as solid or less frequently chemically foamed
materials. Foams offer significant advantages over
conventionally printed components. However, chemical
blowing agents limit material selection, control of
porosity, and recyclability. Physical foaming with
supercritical fluids offers a sustainable alternative with
precise process control, which so far has only been
realized in conventional large-scale extrusion systems.

Novel coating technology for paper-based materials

For switching high voltages there is the need for many
serial switching elements (e.g. semiconductors). The
insulated trigger is realized by a inductive coupling or
mechanical, what makes a insulation of the full voltage
necessary. With the new method a cascading of
capacitive coupled elements makes this obsolete.

In their endeavors to increase the energy efficiency of their production equipment, companies come up against three implementation hurdles: a lack of transparency regarding energy consumption, the implementation of less effective measures due to the high level of machine complexity and the low motivation of workers to implement the measures in operation. An assistance system that is independent of the equipment can overcome these hurdles.

Sand-lime bricks are manufactured by combining sand and hydrated lime in an autoclave, creating CSH phases. The main factor for the carbon footprint of sand-lime bricks is the production of lime. Producing one ton of quicklime inevitably releases 440 kg of CO2. In the state of the art it is known to cure cementitious materials by means of carbonation.

Explicit structural dynamics codes, used extensively in car crash analysis, metal forming and blast, require optimized solution updates to achieve highly efficient transient calculations. All ingredient are present in contemporary linear finite element codes based on mass lumping, reduced quadrature, and hourglass stabilization. A competitive higher order spatially accurate technology – with the promise to deliver more accurate and efficient numerical simulation – has so far not been realized.

In aqueous industrial component cleaning, process parameters such as bath temperature have traditionally been controlled at a fixed value, without taking external factors—such as electricity supply or the degree of contamination—into account. Settings based exclusively on expert knowledge render process management inflexible and frequently result in energy-intensive over-cleaning.

In many applications, laser beam control for
spatiotemporal pattern generation relies on acoustooptical
components. However, control bandwidth and
flexibility for intensity-controlled and multi-beam
applications are severely restricted by nonlinearities as
well as by interactions in case of controlling multiple
beams and multiple dimensions. Current techniques
employ pre-calibration and closed-loop control methods,
which impede highly dynamic pattern generation.

Renewable energy as a commodity like oil, gas, and coal for global trade and loss-free storage

Slender structures such as high-rise buildings, towers
and masts are built ever lighter and taller. Under wind
and seismic loads they sway noticeably, which impairs
comfort and serviceability and accelerates fatigue.
Today this is countered with tuned mass dampers: solid
masses of several tonnes that must be lifted to the top
of the building, permanently occupy valuable space
there and act in one direction of motion only.

Heat pipes are used worldwide as efficient and passive
heat transport systems. Their performance relies on an
internal capillary structure, which, however, only allows
simple geometries without branching, since any
interruption of the structure causes the transport
mechanism to fail. For applications with more complex
geometries in space, only elaborate pumped systems
have been available so far.

Processes for the preparation of ceramic coatings, such
as APS, frequently are limited to oxides. Further, the
yielded coatings often are porous, thereby, impairing
their protection against corrosive species.
For precursor-derived ceramic coatings, commonly
fillers are added ion order in increase the achievable
coating thickness, resulting in inhomogeneities and
porosity in the derived ceramic coating.

Current light therapy is divided: stationary devices offer
the required intensity of 10,000 lux, but severely restrict
mobility. Mobile light glasses, on the other hand, often
use point-shaped LED light sources with dangerously
high luminance levels and insufficient overall
brightness. Technically, this results in inhomogeneity
and a risk of glare, while on the user side, disorientation
or a lack of well-being significantly limit acceptance and
therapeutic effectiveness.

Reduce tool cost through automated wear measurement

The industrial utilization of multilayer ceramic capacitors grows rapidly. Applications like energy conversion, space and aviation as well as electric vehicles call for ever increasing demands. The problems are multifaceted. Capacitors can either be efficiently operated at certain voltages only or the capacitance is stable up to 120 °C only. For simultaneous workload of both high electric fields and extreme temperatures no capacitors are available with deviations of capacitance within industrial range of ± 15%.

The current status quo in sample handling shows that even under controlled conditions there is a certain level of contamination. This highlights the challenges of maintaining absolute purity and emphasizes the need for precise methods to minimize contamination in sensitive environments.

In sheet metal forming technology, process forces are
usually measured indirectly or with external force
sensors, which require additional installation height or
space. This often makes integration into existing tools
with standard punch holders impossible. Processoriented
force measurement directly on the punch is
therefore lacking in many applications, even though
such data is becoming increasingly important for
process monitoring and Industry 4.0 approaches.

Lead is a highly toxic element currently used by industry
in the fabrication of lead zirconate-based ceramic
capacitors and actuators. Another major concern is the
use of precious metals such as palladium (Pd) or
platinum (Pt) as the inner electrode material for
fabricating these MLCCs and MLCAs, which are very
expensive. Furthermore, conventional BaTiO3 -based
capacitors can only function up to 125 ∘C, indicating a
clear need for MLCCs with higher temperature durability.

Today, On-Board-Chargers are usually realized as a two-stage design consisting of an active frontend and an isolated DC/DC-converter. The second stage is mostly needed to avoid residual currents that would trip the residual current protective device (RCD). This comes at the cost that during conversion, the electric energy will have to pass through two powerelectronic converters, each producing losses and reducing efficiency.

The direct use of light to synthesize high energy chemicals is important for efficient energy storage. However, no appropriate solution, e.g., to catalytic H₂O₂ production and CO₂ reduction could be established. The currently achieved products on lab scale are mostly one-carbon (C₁) compounds. Direct conversion into multi-carbon (C₂+) compounds, especially liquid products, which are easily stored and separated from the educts, is one of the major goals.