Forschung

Ralf Winkelmann from the btu – Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, KROLLMANN is researching new solutions and processes for “joint forging” and is developing forming technologies for difficult-to-form materials in scientific cooperation.

Joint forging: The aim of the research project is to use a KROLLMANN rotary swaging machine to develop a joining technology that attempts to mechanically join two materials that cannot be joined using conventional joining methods.
Forming technology for difficult-to-form materials: The objective of this innovative research project is to develop a production-capable system with the technological support of a KROLLMANN rotary swaging machine that can transfer difficult-to-form materials from the cast structure into a mould and microstructure, thus enabling subsequent forming processes such as wire drawing.

Newly developed wrought zinc alloys (ZEP) can replace brass. They are lead-free, lighter, more cost-effective and have up to 40 % lower CO2 emissions. ZEP is available as round rods with diameters of 8-50 mm and lengths of up to 3,000 mm. Continuous wires with a diameter of 5-12 mm are required for the mass production of small components. The aim is to produce such wires with a diameter of less than 13 mm economically.
This project is funded by the European Union and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia as part of the
of the ERDF/JTF programme NRW 2021-2027.