AZL Launches Department for Joining Technology

Sustainable realization of cost-efficient and high-quality multi-material systems based on fiber-reinforced plastics.

The Aachen Center for Integrative Lightweight Production (AZL) at RWTH Aachen University, Germany,announces the launch of their new department for Joining Technology, as of beginning of 2015.

AZL, the worldwide unique competence network for Integrative Lightweight Production Technology, represents already nine research institutes on the Campus of RWTH Aachen University which are active in various related fields. With this new department, the Center aims to complete their full lightweight production service in material science and production technology.

The major aim of the new AZL department is the development of joining technologies which will fit to the material-specific properties of e.g. FRP-Metal combinations on the one hand and the integration of these technologies in the process chain on the other hand. Prof. Dr. Uwe Reisgen, Head of the new Joining Technology department, comments: “The integration of joining in the already outstanding existing interdisciplinary services provided by AZL will lead to an even stronger combination of product and process development, ultimately leading to technically and economically improved FRP and multi-material parts.”

During a workshop in January 2015, the AZL has already discussed relevant research topics in the field of joining together with its research and industrial partners. A workshop to follow up on this discussion will take place in June 2015. By now, AZL counts 54 industrial partners representing the entire lightweight production value chain from the raw material producer, over molders, manufacturing equipment suppliers, Tier 1 and Tier 2 to OEMs, from SMEs to large multinational corporations, from Germany to Mexico, China or Japan.