Research Center for Sensor Materials and Sensor Systems “MatBeyoNDT“

Over two thirds of all technical innovations are directly or indirectly attributable to new materials. Materials science therefore plays a key role in meeting the increasing demands and functions of commercially available products in industry due to the ever-increasing requirements for the materials to be used.

In many industrial sectors and in the production of consumer goods, there is an increasing move away from non-specific applications towards individual solutions adapted to specific applications. This development has a direct impact on the type and complexity of materials and, accordingly, on the material development process. In addition to the standard material properties, many other options are already available at laboratory level to influence material behavior. As the complexity of materials increases, so do the requirements for characterization methods to describe them and enable their industrial use.

Fraunhofer IZFP Research Center “MatBeyoNDT“

At Fraunhofer IZFP, the known non-destructive testing methods are being prepared for the changes in the industrial process environment. On the one hand, this is done by taking a holistic view of the life cycle of a product and the role that non-destructive methods play in it. All data, processes and conditions relating to the product under consideration are understood and used as information carriers. Furthermore, this approach places completely new demands on data processing and on understanding the interaction mechanisms of non-destructive testing methods with the product and its environment.

In order to be able to map the complexity of material innovations, the methods for their characterization must also be further developed. In order to understand the materials, not just a single test method can be used, but a combination of several, which, together with advanced computer-based methods for data processing, provide information about complex materials or lead to the development of new sensor materials.

MatBeyoNDT accompanies the development of future material innovations from initial laboratory tests to large-scale industrial quality assurance. In this way, the requirements for testing methods are determined and further developed so that they can be marketed as industrially suitable testing systems. This helps to ensure that more complex materials such as programmable materials can be increasingly used in industry.

While the MatBeyoNDT group is very broadly positioned and aims to develop a variety of interesting projects in the field of materials with 3D architecture, two global topics will particularly shape the group in the coming years: Additive manufacturing processes will dominate the way 3D-structured materials are produced and digitalization in materials science will determine how data describing materials and processes are handled in the future.

Fraunhofer research grant “Attract“ - From the idea to innovation

The MatBeyoNDT research group is funded by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft as part of the Fraunhofer research grant “Attract“. It offers outstanding external scientists the opportunity to advance their ideas towards application within an optimally equipped Fraunhofer Institute close to the market. The scientist has a maximum budget of 2.5 million euros over 5 years to set up and lead a group. The aim is to consolidate the respective research topic on the basis of personal expertise beyond the funding period and thus contribute to the future strategy of the respective institute.