Institute

The Institute of Polymer Materials and Plastics Engineering was founded in 1998 with the appointment of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Ziegmann to the TU Clausthal. Since 01.07.2018 Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ziegmann is senior professor. The institute is headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Meiners.

The Institute's team currently has a total of 36 employees, 28 of whom work in the scientific area and 8 in the technical and administrative area. Thematically, we are working on five main areas, which include elements of plastics processing as well as polymer materials, in order to arrive at new approaches to solutions.

• Fiber Composites is the primary research area with the thematic focus on the implementation and simulation of RTM (resin transfer molding) and VARI (vacuum assisted resin infusion) processes.
• The second area is flow processes, in which procedures and problems of plastics processing such as micro injection moulding, compounding and the processing of highly filled plastic systems are dealt with.

• The third area comprises the modification, characterisation and processing of natural fibres to natural fibre reinforced plastics (NFRP). Since 2006, Dr. Steuernagel's research group has been working successfully in this field.
• The fourth area is the production of additives, in which we are opening up new areas of research in the fields of thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic systems and, in the future, also in ceramic materials.
• Furthermore, the system recycling of plastics represents a future-oriented competence area of our institute, which is to be expanded.

In addition to intensive basic research, which is often funded by projects of the DFG (German Research Foundation), DBU (German Environmental Foundation), AiF (German Federation of Industrial Research Associations) and in EU projects, we are constantly establishing and expanding contacts with industry. Cooperation takes place both on the basis of small orders and through cooperation agreements. This close cooperation strongly promotes the transfer of technology and science to industry, so that we can offer our know-how, innovations and optimizations for new and established processes. Our branch office in Stade also works successfully with many other companies in the CFK Valley, including Airbus.