For the past 15 years, we’ve dedicated ourselves to the relentless pursuit of advancing the field of topology optimization for compliant mechanisms. Our journey has been marked by continuous improvement in our procedures, and today, we are thrilled to share the evolution from our humble beginnings in 2009 to the present. Please click play to
The IKAT team wishes all students, colleagues and research partners a happy new year. We are looking forward to exciting tasks and successful collaboration.
IKAT wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. For those who like to continue researching drive technology on the holidays, please follow the link.
We are pleased to announce that our team member Lukas Suchý was honored with the prestigious Hans-Winter Prize at the FVA Information Conference 2023 in Würzburg. The presentation was titled „Strength Verification of Press-Fit Connections Under Gear-Specific Combined Loads„. This award recognizes Lukas’s outstanding contributions to the calculation of component fatigue in contacts. During the
IKAT is ringing in the Christmas season with a new interactive test bench. This consists of a Christmas pyramid in composite construction with all kinds of decorations. You can actively control the rotational speed of the pyramid based on the number of clicks – teamwork is required here. We hope you have fun exploring together.
The Forschungsvereinigung Antriebstechnik e.V. (Research Association for Drive Technology) hosted the autumn meeting of the Shaft-Hub-Connection working group in Maintal on 8 and 9 November. The approximately 50 participants, made up of representatives from 15 industrial companies and 5 universities, exchanged views on current research topics. The institutes – including the members of IKAT’s Fatigue
Prof. Hasse and Ms. Nettlenbusch attended the Design for X Symposium (external link) in Radebeul on 14th and 15th September. Five topics were presented by young scientists from all around Germany. Nettlenbusch presented on „Design-related sustainability assessment“ and discussed her methods for evaluating product sustainability in the early stages of the product life cycle. Following
On 06.09.2023, IKAT took part in the Chemnitz company run with 7 participants. The starting signal was given at 18:45 and the hunt for good times began. The course led from the city centre via Hartmannplatz around the Schlossteich back to the city centre. On the 5-kilometre course, our trainee Pablo Silvestre was the fastest
To intensify international cooperation, Prof. Dr. Hasse travelled to Stellenbosch University with a delegation from the Chemnitz University of Technology. The campus of Stellenbosch University has a „lively atmosphere“ and houses „state-of-the-art research facilities“ according to Prof. Dr. Hasse (external link). Discussions were held between academics and with students to promote academic and student exchange.
From September 4 to 8, Prof. Hasse will participate in the Ilmenau Scientific Colloquium. This year there are sessions addressing „Productive Teaming“, a research direction of IKAT. Prof. Hasse will present the paper „AN AI-DRIVEN DESIGN METHOD AS BASIS FOR TEAMING“. In addition to IKAT, numerous researchers from the CHIM network will participate, presenting their
On Thursday 13 July, IKAT organised its own hiking day, which took us through the Tharandt Forest from Klingenberg-Colmnitz via Grillenburg castle to the botanical garden in Tharandt. During the 22 km hike and the two picnic breaks, there were plenty of opportunities for professional and interdisciplinary exchange.
Last month, the Chair of Machine Elements and Product Development organised a student excursion as part of the course Design/Machine Elements. The Flender Industriegetriebe company has its large gearbox division at this location, which has been characterised by mechanical engineering since the 19th century and is only 40 km away from Chemnitz, and manufactures gearboxes
At the 15th VDI Conference on Plain and Roller Bearings, the Plain Bearings group presented a joint project with the Klüber company, which deals with the reduction of failure by fretting fatigue in plain bearings. Here, a thin polymer layer was applied to plain bearings to reduce wear. The advantages of this process were presented
From 21-23 June, the seventh International Conference of Engineering Against Failure (ICEAF VII) took place on the island of Spetses in Greece. Here, calculation concepts for the safety of components are presented and discussed, and our WNV/Strength Group contributed its findings in the area of shaft-hub connections and fretting fatigue. At the same time, our
Mrs. Nettlenbusch and Dr. Reißmann attended the 4th Symposium on Education for Sustainable Development at the New City Hall in Leipzig on May 9th. The event focused on the topic of ESD and global perspectives. After a short introduction, the event started with an inspiring speech by Benki Piyãko, the representative of the indigenous Asháninka
Professor Hasse presented IKAT´s latest research findings on the potential of laser structuring on the surface of components for increasing friction coefficient during the Materials, Hybrids session at the FVV Spring Conference on March 30th, 2023. The project, „Tribomaps – friction coefficient enhancing laser structures,“ was completed in collaboration with the Laser Institute (Prof. Löschner)
„Transition Engineering” is an engineering discipline invented by Prof. Susan Krumdieck. It aims to develop of technical systems that meet today’s needs without compromising the ecological, economic, or social systems of future generations. It is a continuous process characterized by the integration of past, present and future perspectives. IKAT’s Transition Lab is designed to sensitize
After a break of three years, the Saxon simulation users‘ meeting SAXSIM took place again in Chemnitz, and IKAT was also strongly represented with the specialist group Strength/SHC. Prof. Dr. sc. ETH Hasse opened the third block of the conference with the award ceremony of the student competition. Mr. Le followed with a presentation on
We congratulate Sebastian Vetter on his successful doctorate in the topic: „Estimation of the scattering of the fatigue strength of shafts and axles in the area of long-term strength“ and at the same time thank him for the good cooperation in the past years. We wish S. Vetter all the best on his further path
With the successful finalisation of the AiF–BMWK-funded research project “ Journal bearing system tolerances“, coordinated by the FVA, IKAT was able to demonstrate the correlation between geometric deviations and changes in the nominal operating parameters of the journal bearing. The main part of the investigations was a wide-ranging parameter variation in which form and tilting
IKAT is researching possibilities for integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into the design process, with a particular focus on topology optimisation. With the tool TODL, a demonstrator was developed that shows the user the potential of machine learning.
IKAT welcomes Lisa-Marie Nettlenbusch to the product development research group. Ms Nettlenbusch studied industrial engineering (Bachelor and Master) at the TU Chemnitz and is working on life cycle analysis. In her research project, possibilities for creating a life cycle assessment during the design process are being developed and validated. We are looking forward to the
IKAT wishes all staff, students and research colleagues a Happy New Year. We look forward to the upcoming tasks, challenges and surprises in 2023.
Together with Father Christmas, IKAT is researching „frictionless sled guidance“. By reducing the coefficient of friction from μ = 0.05 to μ = 0.00, an annual saving of 460•107 t CO2eq* is achieved for an annual sledge travel of 8•108 km and a permissible total weight of the sledge of 16•106 t. We look
On 9 and 10 November, the IKAT’s Division “Festigkeit” travelled to the working group in Bruchsal and presented current research results on the topic of Shaft-Hub-Connections. These were lively discussed at a high level with industry representatives and other research institutes. We would like to thank the Research Association for Drive Technology (FVA) and the
The Product Development Group is working on the project „sensor-integrating feather keys for the detection of torques“ as part of the priority program „sensor-integrating machine elements“. Here, the structure of a classical feather key is modified with the help of an optimization methodology developed at the professorship in such a way that the torque transmitted with
IKAT has successfully published its research results on estimating the survival probability of shafts in the renowned paper ‚Engineering Failure Analysis‘. We would like to thank Dipl.-Ing. S. Vetter for his excellent research work in the group WNV/Strength and congratulate him on the publication of the research results. Herein, a proposal is given for estimating the
Every six months ─ in spring and fall ─ the information conferences scheduled by the Research Association for Combustion Engines (FVV) take place. At these conferences, German and international institutes present their FVV-funded research projects in the categories „Efficiency, Materials and Turbomachinery“. At this year’s FVV autumn meeting, IKAT had the honor to present the
We are happy that Kristian M. Mauser successfully defended his PhD-Thesis on October 7th. The topic is: “Nachgiebige Mechanismen mit variable Steifigkeit durch das gezielte Aufbringen einer belastungsinduzierten Vorspannung.” The IKAT congrats Kristian M. Mauser and wishes all the best in the future and continued success in all of his endeavours. At picture from
Also outside the scientific work the employees of the IKAT prove a long endurance. A group of 6 highly motivated colleagues laced up their running shoes on September 7th and participated in this year’s company run, which attracted over 6000 participants from 500 companies. The almost 5km long course started at the square in front
The phenomenon of fretting fatigue occurring in component connections represents a major challenge in the service life assessment of components from the current point of view. The reason for this is a tribological stress component in the contact surfaceof the components, which prevails in addition to the obligatory pure fatigue stress. Depending on the material
The committee on journal bearings (jb) of the research associations Verbrennungskraftmaschinen (FVV) and Antriebstechnik (FVA) was a guest in Chemnitz on June 28 and 29, 2022. The JB research group of IKAT under the leadership of Prof. Hasse and Mr. Prase organized the two-day meeting. The location of the meeting was the conference room in the
On may 23 and 24 the IKAT of Professor Hasse has presented results to the project board of „Welle-Nabe-Verbindungen“ (shaft-connections) in Frankfurt (Main). 9 employees – Professor Hasse included – have presented their results and ideas for current and upcoming projects. The presentations have been discussed by the representatives of the economy and other institutions.
Since the beginning of April, Mr. Tobias Hentschel strengthens the research group WNV/Strength. We welcome him cordially at our professorship. Mr. Hentschel completed his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences including an apprenticeship as an industrial mechanic. He then completed his master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Chemnitz University of
The professorship says goodbye to its employee Martin Möllerke. Mr Möllerke was part of the tribology department and supervised projects on friction coefficient determination and friction coefficient development. In addition, Mr Möllerke took care of the cooperation with various partners in these topics. Besides these topics, Mr Möllerke was able to contribute to the optimisation
Since mid-February, we welcome Mr. Patrick Schlapp as a new employee at our professorship. In the newly created position of laboratory engineer, he adds an important link to our team and thus relieves both the technical and the scientific staff. Due to the experimental orientation of IKAT’s research activities, our professorship hosts a large number
In February, Mr. Suchy and colleagues from the Technical University of Prague published new research results in the journal „Metals“. In the publication „Benchmarking Newer Multiaxial Fatigue Strength Criteria on Data Sets of Various Sizes“, the authors investigated the validation process of new fatigue criteria for multiaxial fatigue stresses. Six newly introduced criteria and four
We are pleased to welcome Mr. Benjamin Muhammedi as a new research assistant at our professorship. He supports the shaft hub connections/strength research group already since the beginning of the year. Mr. Muhammedi studied mechanical engineering with the area of specialization in applied mechanics and thermodynamics at the TU Chemnitz and wrote and successfully defended
In the course of the expansion of the test field, the heart of the Chair of Machine Elements and Product Development, some of the test benches were extended in their scope of performance. The HPP100 hydraulic pulsator test rig was equipped with new drive and control technology. This enables flexible user-defined test sequences, the recording
The Professorship Machine Elements and Product Development wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The livestream (https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/mb/mp/weihnachten2021/) shows the real existing test setup with a Christmas tree of the Professorship Machine Elements and Product Development of Chemnitz University of Technology. The test can be actively influenced.
The Professorship of Machine Elements and Product Development introduces the new website for student tenders. Offers for student research papers, bachelor’s, master’s or diploma theses as well as job offers for research assistants can be found here. This new website is characterized by better clarity, as well as the possibility to filter by criteria and
To create the initial geometry of a product in the design process, many engineers use topology optimization. The standard way is an iterative one, but it requires a lot of computing power and time. Another one is by using of artificial intelligence. The problem with this approach is the availability of optimized training data. A
The professorship Machine Elements and Product Development wishes all students a good start into the lecture period. This semester will be a unique one for us as well since after many months, a step towards normality is finally possible. Lectures can be held at least partially in presence and we are looking forward, after the
Exciting findings in the field of environmentally friendly lubricants have been obtained as part of a current thesis. Lubricants are ubiquitous in mechanical engineering, but both production and disposal are unfortunately rarely environmentally friendly. In the above-mentioned thesis, the composition and suitability of biological lubricants based on screw slime were investigated. Under simplified assumptions, it
At the 9th International Conference on Fatigue Fracture and wear (FFW 2021), our professorship member Mr. Denny Knabner presented the results of the „Comparative Study of crack initiation criterion for flat-flat contacts subjected to fretting corrosion of drive train components”. For the excellent results Mr. Knabner has been applauded by the FFW members and organizing
The compliant-mechanisms groups works on semi-active methods for vibration reduction. In these techniques, mass, damping or stiffness parameters of vibrating structures are influenced to reduce vibrations. Recent results of this research have been published in the prestigious Journal of Sound and Vibration. The publication presents a clear distinction between different energetic effects as a result
We are pleased to welcome Mr Martin Möllerke as a new research assistant at our professorship. While studying mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Dresden, Mr Möllerke did research at the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology on the modelling of the structural-dynamic behaviour of drive trains and the simulation of acoustic
Congratulations to Brave Components for winning the Red Dot in the Red Dot Design Award [2021] for their wheelchair wheel ‚tauwerk delight‘. We are proud to have contributed a small part to the success. As part of the development of the wheel, experimental tests were done at IKAT regarding the strength of individual components. With
We welcome Aviral Gupta as a new member to our professorship. He completed his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in India at Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology, Panjab University. In 2016, Mr. Gupta started a Master’s degree in Automotive Engineering at the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau WHZ. After his successful graduation
The institute’s test field is in a constant state of change. Due to the diversity and the frequent change of research topics, hardly any test bench remains as it is. Currently, the test benches of the research groups of the professorship are still located in one common area. This is to change, as space for