Projects

Research teams at Fraunhofer LBF are developing technologies for automated condition monitoring for high-pressure storage systems, e.g. for hydrogen applications. Pressure vessels can thus be operated more economically without sacrificing safety. The aim is, for example, to distinguish critical from non-critical events during operation. This avoids unnecessary costs and increases safety compared to purely regular replacement or only a superficial visual inspection. In this way, essential prerequisites are created for the further spread of hydrogen technology.

The reliable and efficient design of hydrogen fuel cell systems plays an important role for a fast and sustainably successful transfer to widespread application. Therefore, it is important to validate the materials, components as well as the system as early as possible during development and close to operation, cost-efficiently and flexibly, without the complete system (e.g. automobile) having to be completed or available. Cyber-physical test and validation methods, both in the context of development and final validation, are the solution for this.

Innovative design, safe design, reliable testing: test techniques & design methods

In the PEMPAR project, we are developing a measurement methodology for parameterizing models that simulate temperature and humidity effects as well as mechanical loads on PEM. Data gaps are being closed and the testing times for PEM, fuel cells, and electrolysers are being shortened. The focus is on the recording of time-dependent water absorption, thermal and hygric coefficients of linear expansion, and the viscoelastic material properties under various conditions.

Hydrogen performance center in Hesse

The H2BED research project—Development of Core Technologies for 100% Hydrogen Gas Turbines to Accelerate the Energy Transition in Germany—is a joint project led by Siemens Energy. Fraunhofer LBF is carrying out work under Work Package 2, “Materials,” with a focus on “LCF method development—welds and brazes under the influence of hydrogen.”

We have developed a methodology for AI-based monitoring and tested it using real vibration measurement data. What sets this methodology apart is that it evaluates the reliability of each individual processing step and passes the results on to the subsequent analysis steps. This makes it possible to output classification results from the AI diagnostics along with metrics indicating their reliability. The procedure was developed methodically and tested and validated using measurement data from the real-world laboratory, without incorporating the specifics of the use case into the method itself. This makes it possible to apply the method to other use cases.

The “CirKle” project addresses the global goal of “environmentally sustainable aviation” and makes a valuable contribution to the reusability of cabin components in accordance with the German Circular Economy Act (KrWG). The cabin structures currently in use worldwide consist of phenolic resin-impregnated honeycomb panels that cannot be recycled. The global goal of “CirKle” is to manufacture a new generation of semi-finished products for cabin structures and to directly market recycling-compatible, structurally identical cabin structures - particularly for the retrofit market.

The increasing automation of maritime systems is raising the bar for securing the AI components used in these systems. In the BMWE-funded “SIMAS” project, we are collaborating with TKMS and its TKMS ATLAS ELEKTRONIK segment, DNV, and FEV Etamax to develop a new methodology based on a risk-based approach. By integrating AI performance data into Bayesian networks, we are enabling a transparent safety assessment of autonomous maritime vessels.

The research project “Automated and Digitized Circular Economy Solutions for Electric Axle Drive Systems, ReDriveS” has been launched: The 25 partners from industry, small and medium-sized enterprises, and academia—supplemented by associated partners from research and business—are part of one of the national flagship projects in the BMWE’s “DNS of Sustainable Mobility—Digital, Sustainable, System-Capable” program. Automated disassembly processes, innovative recycling methods for rare-earth magnets, and the use of digital twins are intended to lay the cross-industry foundations for sustainable electromobility.