Year: 2025

Launch of the DFG-funded project on the automated conversion of aesthetically and technically functional design geometries from topology optimization results in November 2025. Topology optimization is an established method in lightweight design that enables the systematic determination of mechan...

Computer-Aided Tolerancing software has become the standard for statistically analyzing the effects of geometrical part variations on product quality. The consideration of physical product behavior requires the solution of differential equations, conducted numerically using Finite Element Analysis ...

As a consequence of the development of energy-efficient and sustainable technical products, reducing friction losses and preventing wear in lubricated contacts of machine elements has become extremely important. Oil is often used as a lubricant to separate the contact surfaces in these tribological...

Christopher Platis joined the Machine Elements and Tribology team as a research assistant at the beginning of October. He previously studied mechanical engineering at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, specialising in engineering design, advanced mechanics and production metrology. ...

In the now completed research project “LightConstruct,” a methodology for multi-material topology optimization (MMTO) was developed at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg in collaboration with partners PH-Mechanik GmbH & Co. KG and Wilhelm-Plastic GmbH & Co. KG. The goal was t...

Tim Ruf joined the Lightweight Design Group as a research assistant at the beginning of November. He previously studied mechanical engineering at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. In his master's thesis at KTmfk, he developed methods for quantifying subjective design characteristic...

Conventional tolerance management aims to limit variations of components to a degree that guarantees the function of the product. Frequently, aspects such as manufacturability, assemblability, and influences of operation are not taken into account. As a result, variations that lead to assembly prob...

The consideration of variations and their functional restriction during the design of a product is an important task of tolerance management. Endless-fiber reinforced plastics (FRP), which are increasingly used due to their high lightweight potential, increase the complexity of this task due to the...

The Chair of Design Engineering congratulates Dr. David Scherb on passing his doctoral examination with flying colors. In his dissertation, Mr. Scherb addressed the topic of “Simulative design of wearable support systems using musculoskeletal human models, using the example of an ankle orthosis.” I...

Following the invitation of Prof. Zimmermann, Head of the Laboratory for Product Development and Lightweight Design, the WiGeP Assistants Meeting took place in Munich on October 23-24, 2025. Researchers from across Germany, including Simon Schleifer from the Chair of Engineering Design (KTmfk), gat...