Textile research, technology and product development

With its broad and application-oriented research portfolio and a network of institutes distributed throughout Germany and increasingly worldwide, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is one of the leading research organizations in Europe. The success of the Fraunhofer model is based on the autonomy of the institutes as well as on the existence of uniform business processes, a coordinated R&D portfolio, cross-institute strategies and, above all, common values and principles.

In order to face the trend towards new technical textiles, Fraunhofer institutes have joined forces in the Textile Research Area and are addressing the increasing need for innovation and research in the production of load-optimized and functionally integrative textile structures, reproducible and in series.

By bundling individual competencies, the entire textile value chain is represented, from textile machines to fiber production, preform/semi-finished product production, textile functionalization, smart textiles, process and product simulation, sustainability - life cycle assessment and recycling, and fiber composite components.

The Textile Research Area provides companies and partners with an interdisciplinary team for generating optimal, application-oriented, product-specific developments of textile-based technologies and plant systems.

New growth potentials for the textile industry arise from the increasing demands for environmental and climate protection and the associated lightweight construction concept, our inexhaustible need for comfort and functionality of textiles and the enormous potential for use as reinforcing structures in building constructions and other technical applications. Textile fibers and surfaces, individually and in hybrid composites, are gradually replacing conventional materials due to their outstanding properties.

Produced in a resource-efficient and sustainable way and equipped with functional and smart properties, textiles are a guarantee for the development of new markets.

Participating institutes:

Fraunhofer Institute for

• Applied Polymer Research IAP, Potsdam-Golm
• Electronic Nano Systems ENAS, Chemnitz
• Wood Research Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut WKI, Hanover
• Silicate Research ISC, Muenchberg
• Industrial Mathematics ITWM, Kaiserslautern
• Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU, Chemnitz
• Reliability and Microintegration IZM, Berlin

Research & Development Competencies

Textile machines and Interfaces

• Technological consulting of the textile machinery industry
• Special machines for thermo- and thermosetting prepreg technologies, such as roll-to-roll lines
• In-line textile processes for near-net-shape structures
• Textile processing of smart textiles
• Additive manufacturing processes

Fiber Production

• Wet, dry and melt spinning technologies
• Customized polymer development, lyocell technology
• Development of high-performance materials, fiber precursors from renewable raw materials, oxide and non-oxide ceramic fibers
• Processes for filament, roving, yarn production

Textile Structures and Preforms

• Textile surface production, e.g. for spacer preforms, organo sheets
• Continuous and short fiber reinforced semi-finished products:
  thermoset, thermoplastic, ceramic, hybrid
• Bionically reinforced lightweight structures
• Automated fabric and preform production
• RTM and wet pressing processes, generative manufacturing, injection molding
• Fiber, semi-finished and composite material analysis
• Non-destructive characterization of structures and components

Textile Functionalization

• Modification of volume and surface properties of fibers, textiles and textile components
  - wet and/or plasma chemical processes
  - coating, finishing and structured treatment
• Biocompatibility, REACH conformity
• Property improvements: Water and soil repellency, self-cleaning ability, dyeability, printability, fiber-matrix adhesion enhancement

Smart Textiles

• Textile-specific design of hardware and software
• Interconnection and encapsulation technologies for smart textiles
• Integration of electronics and sensor technology in textiles and hybrid laminates
• Reliability testing and evaluation
• Communication and power supply solutions for smart integrated systems
• Intelligent data analysis
• Structural health monitoring
• Development of tools for sensor calibration
• Prototyping

Process and Product Simulation

• Spinning processes
• Fiber dynamics
• Fluid dynamic process design
• Microstructure simulation
• Design and optimization of components
• Calculation of mechanical properties
• Quality control

Sustainability - Life Cycle Assessment, Recycling

• Development of composite materials considering the circular economy
• Bio-based textile auxiliaries as substitutes for fossil materials
• Recycling of lightweight structures
• Production of textiles from recycled material
• End-of-life and New-life scenarios
• Life cycle assessment