On January 1, the Thuringian Center for Mechanical Engineering launched a large-scale research project aimed at making the manufacturing processes for plastic components more environmentally friendly.

In the EMProBio research group, the Thuringian Center for Mechanical Engineering and its five partner institutions are working on technologies and processes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in all phases of the life cycle of plastic components and, in particular, to make their production more environmentally friendly. The central approach is to increase energy and resource efficiency in production. For two years, scientists and engineers are developing sustainable production strategies to reduce energy consumption, emissions and raw materials.

The objectives of the research project include

  • Development and characterization of master moulding processes for biogenic plastics and their optimization in terms of energy and material efficiency
  • Development and characterization of recyclable joining processes for biogenic plastics and their optimization in terms of energy and material efficiency
  • Development of efficient test procedures for quality control of biogenic plastic components using image-based measurement methods
  • Development of a system for the transparent evaluation and optimization of material and energy efficiency in production processes of biogenic plastics
 

On the part of TU Ilmenau, the departments of Product and System Development (Prof. Husung, Coordinator of the research group) and Quality Assurance and Industrial Image Processing (Prof. Notni) are involved in the project.

Other partners are the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena, the GFE - Gesellschaft für Fertigungstechnik und Entwicklung Schmalkalden e. V., the Günter-Köhler-Institut für Fügetechnik und Werkstoffprüfung GmbH (ifw Jena) and the Schmalkalden University of Applied Sciences

The two-year project is funded by the Free State of Thuringia from the European Social Fund Plus