Press Releases

The digital die casting twin links information regarding the condition of materials to all sub-processes of die casting and creates a knowledge base for meeting economic, technological, and ecological requirements. To this end, knowledge graphs for various process steps were created and networked at Fraunhofer IWM using ontology-based semantic structures. Fraunhofer IWM will present the digital twin at the EUROGUSS trade show from January 13 to 15, 2026.

The HyLife project aims to develop a physics-based service life prediction tool for materials in contact with hydrogen. Innovative test methods and materials models will be used to reliably predict the service life of components under the influence of hydrogen, thereby making a decisive contribution to the safe-ty and efficiency of hydrogen infrastructures.

Fraunhofer IWM has developed and commissioned a micro-tensile testing apparatus with an integrated high pressure hydrogen chamber that can be used to perform mechanical quasi-static or cyclic (fatigue) tests and fracture mechanics investigations on samples measuring just a few millimeters in size. The transferability of the test results from micro to macro samples is guaranteed. Micro sample testing technology opens up new possibilities for efficiently and reliably evaluating the mechanical properties of both small and thin-walled components, as well as local weak points in material structures and weld seams in large components.

Fraunhofer IWM has developed and successfully commissioned an autoclave for crack growth tests on CT samples in hydrogen at pressures of up to 170 bar. The compact design enables the cost-effective creation of a database for the design and safe operation of hydrogen infrastructure components.

How can new bio-based and biohybrid materials with improved features be developed faster? Six Fraunhofer institutes are jointly exploring this question in the SUBI²MA flagship project, using an innovative bio-based polyamide developed by Fraunhofer researchers as a model. Its specific properties make it a promising alternative to fossil-based plastics.

Climate change, snowmelt, and rising energy costs are putting pressure on ice rink operators. Skating on plastic sheets promises an economical and sustainable alternative. In the race to develop the most athletic skating experience, Glice AG from Lucerne, Switzerland, has now succeeded in a research project with Fraunhofer IWM in Freiburg to develop synthetic ice with gliding properties that are in no way inferior to those of frozen water. The creative interplay between Fraunhofer IWM's materials science research into the contact mechanisms — including the resulting material specifications necessary for enabling skating on plastic — and Glice AG's further development of the formula and manufacturing process for plastic ice sheets ultimately led to the breakthrough.

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.