Technologies

Corrosion is one of the greatest challenges for industry, infrastructure, and the environment. According to DIN EN ISO 8044:2025, corrosion is defined as the “chemical or electrochemical interaction between a material, usually a metal, and its environment.” This interaction can lead to material damage, functional failure, and enormous economic costs. In industrialized nations, 3-4% of gross domestic product is lost annually due to corrosion damage. The fact is that most of this corrosion damage could be avoided if existing knowledge were applied properly. Fraunhofer IFAM offers comprehensive solutions for corrosion protection, testing methods, and damage analysis – scientifically sound and accredited.

Functional coatings for exterior applications face a variety of requirements to ensure the functionality and safety of equipment. External influences such as ice formation and erosion pose a major challenge, as they can compromise safety and lead to high repair and maintenance costs. To reduce these effects, Fraunhofer IFAM develops innovative coating technologies. The focus is particularly on ice-repellent coatings, heating layers for de-icing and erosion protection layers.

The machining of large components by huge machining centers is often a bottleneck in production. In this case, process control is spatially limited to the size of the plant and restricted in flexibility by the design principle. This is avoided by using mobile industrial robots (IR). Moreover, when using CNC-controlled robots, existing programs can continue to be used. The disadvantage of conventional IRs, however, is their lower accuracy compared to a processing machine, which has so far not allowed the required processing tolerances to be maintained.

Fraunhofer IFAM has now developed a novel solution for the dynamic improvement of the kinematics: the hybrid drive for industrial robots.

The combination of serial kinematics with external linear axes results in versatile and adaptable machine concepts for manufacturing, even for the production of large components.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE COOLING TECHNOLOGIES | Magnetocaloric cooling systems offer industry a pioneering alternative to conventional compression refrigeration machines – technologically innovative, economically attractive, and ecologically sound. Instead of conventional refrigerants, these systems use the magnetocaloric effect: By making targeted changes to the magnetic field in specially developed materials, cold can be generated efficiently and in a controlled manner – without the use of fluorinated greenhouse gases.

Corrosion poses a serious threat to the longevity and functionality of metallic components. It is caused by environmental influences and contact with corrosive media, leading to enormous economic damage worldwide. In an industrialized nation, the direct costs of corrosion are estimated to be around three to four percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) annually. Early prevention is therefore crucial to preserving assets and minimizing costs.

On the way to optimize robot systems, an extraordinarily powerful software application for model-based calibration of industrial robots has been developed by Fraunhofer IFAM in Stade which enables high-precision robot use.

HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPOSITES FOR RELIABLE ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY | Electronic systems are everywhere – from complex machine controls and sensor technology in Industry 4.0 to electric drives in vehicle construction. This also increases the risk of electromagnetic interference that can affect other devices or cause sensitive systems to malfunction. Compliance with electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is therefore essential for the trouble-free functioning of devices and the reliability of sensitive electronic equipment. At Fraunhofer IFAM, we develop innovative functional composites for EMC protection.

HYDROGEN BARRIER COATINGS FOR TANKS, PIPELINES AND MORE | For hydrogen tanks and the like, metallic materials (e.g. steel or aluminum) are still predominantly used today, either as solid materials or as liners in polymeric materials, which constitute an enormous additional weight. In order that lightweight materials such as fiber reinforced polymers can also be used for fuel tanks etc., which do not provide a sufficient barrier to hydrogen permeation themselves, Fraunhofer IFAM is developing barrier coatings which strongly reduce the permeability of hydrogen and thus offer versatile possibilities for lightweight construction in the aerospace industry, but also in other areas.