Lightweight construction not only makes components and products lighter; it also makes them better. What that means in specific terms can be seen at HANNOVER MESSE 2018 from 23 to 27 April, most notably in Hall 5. This is where companies specializing in lightweight construction can be found as part of the lineup at Industrial Supply – the Leading Trade Show for Innovative Subcontracting Solutions and Lightweight Construction.

 

"Making a component or product lighter, reducing material input and manufacturing costs, and ending up with something better than before – that’s only possible with lightweight construction know-how", says Dr. Wolfgang Seeliger, managing director at Leichtbau BW GmbH , which is organizing the stand for the regional agency in collaboration with Baden-Wuerttemberg International.

 

Speeding up the lightweight construction process

The start-up Cassini Systems Europe GmbH has fully embraced the cause of digitization, and is presenting a web-based system for network-integrated product development and control that allows developers and manufacturers to collaborate efficiently. As all processes are digitized, development times can be massively reduced. Quality and traceability are ensured through the use of versioned data management and single-source data storage.

 

Saving weight and optimizing products

The demand for lightweight core materials is constantly growing. The exhibits shown by

Surface coatings and finishings

In hybrid lightweight construction, which uses a combination of different materials, surface finish is an important issue. The innovations exhibited at the show by ELB – Eloxalwerk Ludwigsburg Helmut Zerrer GmbH include "Mg-Ultraceramic", a nano-ceramic finishing process for magnesium surfaces exposed to extreme conditions. The photochemical etching technology developed by micrometal GmbH makes it possible to produce extremely complex metal structures with a high degree of precision. 

 

Combining different processes

Lightweight construction is a keynote theme running throughout the whole of HANNOVER MESSE 2018. The Lightweight Construction Guide is also back again for 2018. This handy reference tool for visitors lists the many other companies – right across the spectrum of trade shows at HANNOVER MESSE – which are covering some aspect of lightweight construction in their displays.