 |
| Award ceremony in Stuttgart. From left: Dr. Matthias Graf (Head of Technology Development, Dieffenbacher), Christian Dieffenbacher (member of the Management Board, Dieffenbacher), Dr. Sebastian Baumgärtner (Fraunhofer ICT). |
Every year, the German Federation of Reinforced Plastics (AVK Industrievereinigung Verstärkte Kunststoffe e.V.) grants the AVK Innovation Award to innovative and pioneering innovations in the field of composites. This year, the expert jury named Fibercon, the consolidation system developed by Dieffenbacher and Fraunhofer ICT, a winner in the "Innovative Processes" category.
The award was presented at a ceremony on November 5 in Stuttgart at the 4th International Composites Congress, the kickoff event of Composites Europe. Christian Dieffenbacher, Member of the Management Board, and Dr. Matthias Graf, Head of Technology Development at Dieffenbacher, together with Dr. Sebastian Baumgärtner from Fraunhofer ICT, accepted the Innovation Award for the Fibercon.
Dieffenbacher's Fibercon is used in the manufacture of tape-based components. It consolidates tape layups into near-net-shape laminates of outstanding quality. Fibercon's vacuum consolidation minimizes air inclusions and imperfections and prevents material degradation due to oxidation. Dry spots in the tape can also be re-impregnated. Thanks to a newly developed coating system, most polymers can be processed without release agents. This makes it possible to produce large series of individual component-specific tape layups in reproducible quality. It is even possible to process high performance thermoplastics without further adaptation.
Together with the Fiberforge tape laying system, Fibercon forms the Tailored Blank Line, which is capable of producing more than one million components per year.
