iSMAT - innovative production of and with smart material systems
problem
Metals and polymers that can change shape while acting as their own sensor are the modern drive systems of tomorrow. Due to their multifunctional properties, they are also referred to as smart or intelligent materials. For several years now, research and development in this field has focused on replacing drive systems such as motors, pneumatics or hydraulics with highly compact and more energy-efficient systems in many areas of our working world and our daily lives. Example applications include compressed air-free Industry 4.0 assembly systems or innovative robotic solutions that enable safe human-robot cooperation with intelligent and soft polymer systems. Innovative gripping systems will realize new energy-efficient handling concepts and thus, above all, strengthen efficiency and sustainability in the field of production. Last but not least, the field of biomedicine will also benefit from intelligent and highly integrated continuum robotics and realize new possibilities and methods of patient treatment with this innovative technology. Another cross-industry potential lies in the field of modern air conditioning technology. On the basis of special nickel-titanium alloys, cold and heat can be generated many times more efficiently than established processes such as cold compression do today. "Elastocalorics" shows an unprecedented potential to tackle global energy and climate problems, since, in addition to significantly higher efficiencies, it is completely free of climate-damaging gases.
As fascinating as the properties of intelligent materials are, the technological success and breakthrough to socially relevant applications is based on their economically attractive and sustainable production. This starts with special manufacturing technologies for these materials, followed by efficient assembly and automation processes for components to integrated system solutions, which represent maximum added value compared to today's actuator-sensor solutions through intelligent algorithms for control and self-monitoring.
As fascinating as the properties of intelligent materials are, the technological success and breakthrough to socially relevant applications is based on their economically attractive and sustainable production. This starts with special manufacturing technologies for these materials, followed by efficient assembly and automation processes for components to integrated system solutions, which represent maximum added value compared to today's actuator-sensor solutions through intelligent algorithms for control and self-monitoring.
objective
The overarching research goal in the coming years is the holistic increase of the technology maturity of relevant production technologies over the entire product development process on the way to future mass production of intelligent drive and air conditioning systems based on smart materials. In three parallel project projects, the areas of production technology, assembly technology as well as actuators and sensors will be addressed equally and the complete product development cycle will always be in the foreground through cross-divisional communication and cooperation.
The overall project will further strengthen Saarland's leading international position in the field of smart materials research and will also create an essential basis for the future production of systems based on these materials. This goes hand in hand with the first spin-off projects from the research groups of intelligent material systems, which have set themselves the goal of converting the research results of recent years into commercial products and producing them themselves at the Saarland site.
The overall project will further strengthen Saarland's leading international position in the field of smart materials research and will also create an essential basis for the future production of systems based on these materials. This goes hand in hand with the first spin-off projects from the research groups of intelligent material systems, which have set themselves the goal of converting the research results of recent years into commercial products and producing them themselves at the Saarland site.
approach
Each of the three sub-projects pursues two specific research focuses in its research area of production technology and is processed by working group cooperations of chairs and professorships of the University of Applied Sciences of Technology and Economics (htw), the University of Saarland (UdS) at the Center for Mechatronics and Automation Technology non-profit GmbH (ZeMA). With the ZeMA as the ideal platform for the cooperation between the two Saarbrücken universities, the interdisciplinary cooperation between UdS and htw will be expanded and intensified on the basis of the research area of smart material systems. The specific expertise of the individual chairs and working groups is used in the formulated research approaches of smart material systems. The project lays the foundation for a possible commercialization and production of new products in the field of smart materials. The knowledge gained must then be transferred to industry, and in some cases even during the duration of the project, with the help of bilateral or funded cooperation projects with industrial partners, ideally from the region.
Result/project status
In the field of manufacturing technology, laser welding processes for the production of actuator bundles from shape memory alloys were investigated. After experiments with different welding processes and parameters were carried out, the feasibility of the production of actuator bundles was shown and possible solutions for optimizing the welding connection were identified. In a second subproject, the manufacturing process of nickel-titanium elements was investigated by rapid prototyping. Suitable geometries for elastocaloric applications were identified, process parameters of powder bed-based laser beam melting of nickel-titanium were adapted, and relevant parameters of material performance were determined in use. In the field of assembly technology, the assembly of a smart gripper based on shape memory alloys and a rolled dielectric elastomeractor (DEA) has been optimized. In the first sub-project, the focus was primarily on the reduction of the components of the smart gripper. The planning of an assembly system that is as modular as possible, combining a supply system for components and equipment with a supporting assistance system, was also started. In the second subproject, a semi-automated process for the systematic assembly of rolled and stacked DEA was developed. Devices for stacking the individual layers, rolling, cutting, crimping and gluing the DEA enable repeatable production, the quality of which can be monitored using a MYSQL database. A defined testing process was also integrated to further improve the manufactured actuators. In the field of sensors and actuators, an assistance tool for assembly has been developed that can output haptic and acoustic feedback as well as receive input using metal-based dielectric elastomers. Another subproject dealt with the sensorless control of an FGL actuator. Sensorless monitoring using neural networks was implemented and experimentally validated. In a third subproject, the focus was on combining the forces of shape memory alloys with an electrostatic coupling to develop energy-efficient hybrid actuator systems. The experimental setup showed significant energy savings compared to a conventional FGL actuator.
Funded by:
EN 
DE 
FR 
