Jahresbericht 2017

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Selected Highlights 2017
The Department of Mechanical Engineering
Opened an ‘Additive Manufacturing Cluster’
colloquium, allowing the department to discuss their work
with industry representatives.
From Q3 2018 onwards, interested parties will also be
able to find information about the participating depart-
ments and their additive manufacturing equipment on the
cluster webpage.
Life Sciences, Aerospace, Manufacturing Processes
The department already has a significant breadth and depth
of experience. Three subfields of additive manufacturing
have been identified: life sciences, aerospace, manufactur-
ing processes. For example, the Department of Aerospace
Engineering has developed its own universal 3D-printing
platform that combines three different additive manufac-
turing techniques. The Department of Medical Engineering
studied the production of ‘medical grade’ polymer materials
by additive manufacturing. The research performed by this
department sparked off a start-up company for manufac-
turing high-tech medical products. The Chair of Carbon
Composites took the research into composite materials
further by developing a series of novel approaches for
uniform materials testing. The Institute of Machine Tools
and Industrial Management (iwb) focuses on researching
the manufacturing processes themselves. Since 2017, the
iwb has expanded its competencies in the area of directed
energy deposition processes, and is now exploring wire
and arc-based additive manufacturing, as well as existing
powder-bed approaches. Wire and arc additive manufac-
turing is characterized by fast build speeds.
Favourable Conditions
In the future, the cluster hopes to act as a catalyst for the-
matically innovative applications by fostering collaboration
between two or more departments. At the iwb, an additive
manufacturing laboratory spanning over 100 square
metres is currently under construction. This laboratory will
offer excellent infrastructure for the iwb and other bodies
of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Impression of the second seminar of 26/01/2018 for scientists and
technicians
Additive manufacturing holds a diverse range of oppor-
tunities for mechanical engineering and the Technical
University of Munich. In recognition of this potential, the
‘TUM Mechanical Engineering Additive Manufacturing
Cluster’ was launched in September 2017, with support
from Professor Michael F. Zaeh, the Head of the Institute
of Machine Tools and Industrial Management. The cluster
offers a platform for discussion that allows participants to
pool and share their knowledge and equipment.
Everyone is talking about additive manufacturing. We hear
about new process innovations and applications almost
every day. The Department of Mechanical Engineering
has been actively participating in research into additive
manufacturing processes for several years.
Together, We Can Achieve More!
The spectrum of existing methods of additive manufac-
turing is so diverse that it cannot be fully mastered by a
single department. The ‘Additive Manufacturing Cluster’
was therefore launched in autumn 2017 as a platform
for the various chairs of the Department of Mechanical
Engineering to share their experience, ideas, equipment,
and project findings. The response was overwhelming. On
22nd September 2017, 31 members of the department
attended a total of 15 presentations and engaged in
an enthusiastic discussion about the future of additive
manufacturing. Interest in this platform had not wavered
by the second round of seminars on 26th January 2018.
Accordingly, it was decided at the end of January that the
activities of the ‘Additive Manufacturing Cluster’ should
be intensified. In future, department-wide cluster meetings
will be held three times a year. The meeting in the first
quarter of each year will be organized as an industrial
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael F. Zaeh
Machine Tools and Industrial
Management
Phone +49.89.289.15501
Contact