Call for Applications: Bachelor’s Thesis or Master’s Thesis
© IKVTopic of the Thesis:
Injection molding results in a characteristic fiber architecture that influences fiber orientation, length and distribution. For this reason, it has so far only been possible to produce specifically graded molded parts in the injection molding process at great expense. In contrast, additive manufacturing can be used to change the fiber architecture locally during layer build-up. The additively manufactured components have the desired local fiber architecture, but the properties depend on the build direction, and the components do not have the same morphology as injection-molded components. For the development of a new manufacturing process for the production of injection-moulded analogue components with locally defined fibre architecture under defined solidification conditions, a demonstrator and a variothermal dipping edge tool optimised for this purpose must be designed. The graded and additively manufactured components are heated above the melting point in the injection molding-like dipping edge tool and solidified without pores under injection molding-relevant pressures and cooling rates.
The Thesis is related to this Research Project:
The work is part of the Collaborative Research Center TRR 402 “DediGrad”, in which, among other things, a highly adaptive production process for injection-molded components with continuously configurable fiber architecture is being researched. The aim is to research a manufacturing process for intrinsically graded, additively manufactured test specimens, which are then heated above the melting point in an external mold and subsequently converted into injection-molded components.
Objective:
The aim of the thesis is to develop a suitable demonstrator for the conversion of additively manufactured components into injection-molded components. In this context, a variothermal plunging edge tool must be designed.
Your Tasks:
| You will work on the following tasks for a Bachelor's thesis: | For a Master's thesis you will work on the following tasks: |
| Familiarization with injection moulding, state-of-the-art toolmaking | Familiarization with injection moulding, state-of-the-art toolmaking |
| Design of a suitable demonstrator | Design of a suitable demonstrator |
| Simulation of the process in Moldex3D | Simulation of the process in Moldex3D |
| Derivation of the variothermal plunging edge tool | Derivation of the variothermal plunging edge tool |
| Design of the plunging edge tool |
Your Profile:
- Interest in injection molding
- Experience in the Moldex3D simulation environment
- Basic understanding of additive manufacturing and its design options
- Independent, structured and autonomous work
- Interest in working on pioneering research projects
Preferred study programs
- Mechanical engineering / industrial engineering, specialising in mechanical engineering
- General mechanical engineering
- Computational Engineering Science (CES)
- Simulation Sciences
- Industrial engineering, specialising in materials and process engineering
- Applied Polymer Sciences (M.Sc., FH Aachen)
If you are interested in this exciting range of topics and would like to help shape the future of additive manufacturing, we will be happy to work together to develop a topic tailored to your needs. Feel free to contact me by e-mail, phone or in person at the IKV. I look forward to your message!