Page 6 - Research Report 2021 - Institut für Leichtbau und Kunststofftechnik

The Year 2021

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Neutral lightweight engineering – An idea with impact

Lightweight engineering has long been an important the consideration of the environmental impact of techni-
driving force for a resource-saving and at the same time cal structures. Resource conservation is thus a constitu-
competitive economy. As early as 2010, the Dresden ent element of Dresden's lightweight engineering and is

Lightweight Engineering Symposium was entitled: “Sus- firmly anchored both conceptually and methodologically.

tainability as an innovation driver in efficient lightweight
system design”. The vision formulated at the time strikingly While the three established design approaches in light-

anticipates today's omnipresent demand for a balance weight engineering (economy, efficiency and functional
between technology, economy and ecology. However, the lightweight design) mainly address technical and eco-
application of lightweight design principles to overcome nomic product requirements, new holistic solutions are
resource scarcity is not a new approach. Rather, its ne- needed today to bring growth, environmental protection
cessity becomes evident whenever the supply of raw ma- and resource preservation into balance. This is because
terials is unstable or resources become scarce. Already in environmentally relevant aspects are only indirectly taken
1988, a publication from our institute postulated the ne- into account in these classic three approaches, for ex-
cessity of an “economical use of resources and materials ample when cost savings offer ecological advantages en

and the rational use of energy”, the “reuse” and “regener- passant. In particular, thinking in terms of product cycles
ation of the product or component” and explicitly empha- and the targeted cross-life-cycle design of the environ-
sised the special “responsibility of the designer” (Knauer, mental impacts of lightweight structures and systems are
1988). In the following decade, Prof. Hufenbach's Dres- not anchored there.
den model “Functionally Integrative System Lightweight
Engineering in Multi-Material Design” became a globally In order to actually achieve the goals of the international
respected benchmark in lightweight design. An essential climate agreements and the European Green New Deal,
component of this design approach, formulated in 1995, it is crucial to move environmentally relevant aspects
is – in addition to classical technical and economic cri- equally and consistently into the focus of research and
teria such as safety, production, costs and quality – also development processes. What is required, therefore, is

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