Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe

Hub International Partner Lead Academic: Professor Ulf Breuer

The Institute for Composite Materials (IVW) is a nonprofit organization. It develops new composite applications in various joint ventures with industrial customers and within funded research programs. New materials, advanced composite design schemes, and manufacturing processes are investigated and – once the necessary fundamentals are understood – engineered for applications and tailored to meet individual product requirements (“mission oriented research”). Besides this, new ideas and concepts internally generated are constituent elements of the research work and advanced developments (“intrinsic research”). The knowledge gained through R&D is transferred into industrial applications, the education of engineers, and into new spin-off companies.

Fields of competence include: Design of Composite Structures; Crash & Energy Absorption; Fatigue & Fatigue Life Analysis; Impregnation & Preform Technologies; Press & Joining Technologies; Process Simulation; Roving & Tape Processing; Tailored & Smart Composites; Tailored Thermosets & Biomaterials; Tribology; and Material Analytics.

The Institute operates in sectors including: Automotive; Construction; Electrical Industry; Energy; Aeronautics; Engineering; Security; Astronautics; Shipbuilding; Security; Sports and Recreation.

The Insitute was founded in 1990 and in 2016 the Institute was integrated into the curriculum of the University of Kaiserslautern by professors Dr.-Ing. Ulf Breuer, Dr.-Ing. Joachim Hausmann, Dr.-Ing. Peter Mitschang as well as Dr.-Ing. David May and Dr.-Ing. Bernd Wetzel, complemented by lecturers from industry and university. In close collaboration with the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, today the Institute offers 30 hours of lectures and laboratories a week in the summer and winter semesters. Students of the University of Kaiserslautern and University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern gained insight into a modern research institute and current, promising research subjects by carrying out student research projects and degree theses. The institute with its fields of competence has step by step become established as an important research facility in the area of polymer composites, nationally as well as internationally. With a permanent staff of approximately 120 employees the institute also represents a significant economic factor for the region. The international team of scientists – approximately 30 different nations work at the IVW – mostly consists of engineers, chemists, and physicists of various disciplines, complemented by about 20 guest scientists.

In 2016, 61 student research projects and diploma theses, 21 bachelor and master theses, 10 project theses and 5 doctorates were completed. Colloquia, technology transfer and internships supplemented IVW’s offer in teaching and research. In addition, the institute’s employees also contributed to non-university lectures and training, e.g. the biannual seminar “Principles of thermoplastic reinforced composites”, organized by CCeV.

To find out more about the Institute’s research and facilities, visit their website.

Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe