Press Releases

The scarcity and expense of fatigue data limits optimal design of components and constrains companies to a few well qualified materials when safety-critical applications are concerned. Scientists of Fraunhofer IWM together with colleagues at the University of California, Santa Barbara, have developed strategies for significantly improving the extraction of structured information from unstructured scientific literature—the largest corpus of fatigue data to date. They have published their findings on the ChemRxiv platform.

Under dynamic loads, lightweight structures can be subjected to vibrations that on the one hand generate disturbing noises and on the other lead to material fatigue. In the “LEICHT_DISS” project, friction elements were developed and evaluated that absorb vibration energy as part of the lightweight structures and lead to a stabilization of the system. In addition to increased functionality and safety, the use of these new technologies also enables weight savings as well as economic and ecological potential in component design.

The groundbreaking ceremony on July 22, 2025 marked the start of construction for the Engineering Center for Sustainability (Ingenieurzentrum Nachhaltigkeit – IZN) on Freiburg’s airport campus. The new building will foster closer collaboration between Freiburg’s five Fraunhofer institutes and the University of Freiburg under the umbrella of the Department of Sustainable Systems Engineering (INATECH).

40% of waste oil from industrial processes can now be reprocessed into base oils. However, the technological processes for this are not differentiated enough to recover the valuable base materials from waste oil that are used for high-performance lubricants and to produce new long-life lubricants from them. The recycling technologies currently in use are therefore limited to low-viscosity oils. There is a great need among lubricant manufacturers and their base material suppliers to continue using higher-viscosity gear oils, as there is enormous potential for reducing CO2 and costs. There is also great interest in sustainable lubrication solutions in technology sectors such as wind power and mobility.

In the "AluTrace" project, a decentralized data room architecture was developed that enables seamless traceability and analysis of materials and process data. This is not only important for the design process of lightweight components, but also for the entire value chain in additive manufacturing. By implementing a process-specific topology optimization algorithm (PSTO), it was possible to demonstrate how end-to-end data networking can lead to significant improvements in component quality and performance. The results achieved, including a weight reduction of up to 23% while maintaining the same mechanical strength, demonstrate the clear industrial need for effective solutions for lightweight construction.

The “CapS-PTL” project is developing an innovative technology for the production of porous titanium electrodes, which is crucial for efficient hydrogen production by electrolysis. By using capillary suspensions (CapS), precise control of the porosity and mechanical strength of the electrodes is achieved, which significantly increases electrochemical performance.

Raw material extraction in deep-sea environments requires extremely durable components – especially in pumps. In the "SubseaSlide" project, a novel diamond-SiC composite material was developed and qualified, demonstrating exceptional wear resistance and operational reliability under realistic conditions. This research makes a significant contribution to efficiency, supply security and sustainability in marine resource extraction.

Prof. Dr. Michael Moseler, Head of the Tribology Business Unit at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg and Professor for Simulation of Functional Nanosystems at the University of Freiburg, has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant worth 2.5 million euros for the research and development of a digital twin that can describe lubrication under high loads and thus predict the design and operating conditions for energy-efficient machines. An ERC grant is one of the most prestigious awards in European research funding and is awarded to top researchers for outstanding scientific research approaches.

As part of a Fraunhofer flagship project, researchers are developing a digital ecosystem that collects data along the entire value chain for raw materials — with the goal of ensuring a sustainable and resilient supply. This makes it possible to reuse and recycle materials energy-efficiently and with as little loss as possible. At the Hannover Messe 2025, the research team will be presenting a demonstrator that showcases the many different options offered by this ecosystem.

Silicon carbide (SiC) provides considerable technical advantages for power electronics — however, the costs are still a drawback. In the »ThinSiCPower« research project, a consortium of Fraunhofer Institutes is developing key technologies to reduce material losses and device thickness while increasing the thermomechanical stability of the assembled SiC chips. The savings achieved are expected to help further accelerate the market development of efficient SiC power electronics.