{"id":54429,"date":"2026-06-15T11:22:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/?p=54429"},"modified":"2026-06-15T11:24:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:24:53","slug":"fraunhofer-imwss-lightweight-solution-suitable-for-series-production-awarded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/fraunhofer-imwss-lightweight-solution-suitable-for-series-production-awarded\/","title":{"rendered":"Fraunhofer IMWS\u2019s lightweight solution suitable for series production awarded"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS in Halle (Saale) has been honored at the Hugo Junkers Prize by the State of Saxony-Anhalt. The jury recognizes an innovative process for the manufacture of lightweight sandwich structures that enables the production of complex-shaped, highly stable components in a mass-production-ready process. The “HyWaSand” project took third place in the “Most Innovative Projects in Applied Research” category. Having already gained international recognition, the technology has now also been honored as an outstanding innovation from Saxony-Anhalt.<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The solution developed in the \u201cHyWaSand\u201d project enables the efficient production of thermoplastic lightweight sandwich structures, combining shaping, joining, and functionalization in a single process step. This improves efficiency and results in weight savings of up to 50 percent. The performance of the patented technology was demonstrated using a truck compartment flap. Research partners in the project were Daimler Truck AG, ElringKlinger AG, ENGEL Austria GmbH, ThermHex Waben GmbH, and Edevis GmbH.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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During the Hugo-Junkers Award ceremony, Dr. Eng. Ralf Schlimper, Group Manager \"Assessment and Design of Composite Structures\" at Fraunhofer IMWS (right), Prof. Dr. Armin Willingmann, Minister of Science and the Environment for the State of Saxony-Anhalt (center), the technology developed in the \u201cHyWaSand\u201d project for the efficient production of thermoplastic sandwich lightweight structures. (Image: Fraunhofer IMWS)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cThis award is a great honor for our team and our partners. I am delighted that the consistent implementation of an idea with significant technical and environmental impact convinced the jury. The prize demonstrates that innovative lightweight construction approaches play a key role not only in research but also in the market,\u201d explains Dr.-Ing. Ralf Schlimper, project manager at Fraunhofer IMWS.<\/p>

In the award-winning approach, semi-finished products made of thermoplastic honeycomb cores and fiber-reinforced cover layers are processed into weight-optimized 3D components via thermoforming. Functional elements such as hinges are produced in the same cycle via injection molding. The process reduces costs, enables recyclability, and is suitable for large-scale production. Rapid testing methods ensure quality.<\/p>

\u201cBringing together excellent research and practical application is at the heart of our mission at Fraunhofer IMWS. The award-winning project is a wonderful example of this. My warm congratulations go to the entire project team,\u201d comments PD Dr. Christian Schmelzer, Acting Director of Fraunhofer IMWS.<\/p>

Since 1998, the Hugo Junkers Prize has honored innovative research achievements from Saxony-Anhalt\u2019s scientific and industrial sectors. It is awarded by the Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Science, Energy, Climate Protection, and Environment and, with a total endowment of 80,000 euros, ranks among the most valuable research prizes in Germany.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Contact:<\/strong><\/p>

Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS<\/p>

Dr.-Ing. Ralf Schlimper
Group Manager “Assessment and Design of Composite Structures”
Walter-H\u00fclse-Stra\u00dfe 1
06120 Halle (Saale) \/ Germany<\/p>

Phone: +49 345 5589-263
Mail: ralf.schlimper@imws.fraunhofer.de<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS in Halle (Saale) has been honored at the Hugo Junkers Prize by the State of Saxony-Anhalt. The jury recognizes an innovative process for the manufacture of lightweight sandwich structures that enables the production of complex-shaped, highly stable components in a mass-production-ready process. The “HyWaSand” project […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":54420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,194,171],"tags":[],"main-cat":[144,34],"bildung":[],"forschungs-cat":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54429"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54429"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54433,"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54429\/revisions\/54433"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54429"},{"taxonomy":"maincategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/main-cat?post=54429"},{"taxonomy":"bildung","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bildung?post=54429"},{"taxonomy":"forschung","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/composites-united.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/forschungs-cat?post=54429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}