An interview with Dr.-Ing. Stephan Issler and Professor Dr.-Ing. Peter Häfele, Steinbeis entrepreneurs at the BWF Steinbeis Transfer Center for Component Strength and Safety, Materials Engineering and Joining Technology at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences
Components should not only be safe and durable – you should also be able to rely on them to fulfill the function expected of them. What sounds obvious at first glance is a complex issue in practice and a particular challenge to implement. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Issler and Professor Dr.-Ing. Peter Häfele from the Steinbeis Transfer Center for Component Strength and Safety, Materials and Joining Technology (BWF) ensure that these requirements are actually met. They explained to TRANSFER magazine how. Their recommendation in a nutshell: to remain successful in the future, you should always keep an eye on the latest technological developments.
Hello Dr. Issler, hello Professor Häfele. One of the services you offer your customers is the investigation of component and material properties. What topics or areas can you cover with this?
Issler:
We have around 30 highly specialized employees at the BWF Steinbeis Transfer Center at two locations in the Esslingen district – one in Nürtingen and one in Esslingen itself. The development services we offer our customers cover the following areas: strength and stiffness testing of components and samples under quasi-static and, above all, cyclic loading. In addition, we offer material and failure analyses, measurement technology, experimental stress analyses, service life estimates, employee training and training courses.
Häfele:
Our customers come from a wide range of industries, but primarily from the automotive sector and mechanical engineering, which have a strong tradition in the Stuttgart area. As a testing laboratory accredited by the German Accreditation Body (DAkkS) in accordance with DIN EN ISO 17025, we are also active in medical technology, including the testing of implants.
You and your Steinbeis company have been dedicated to materials and components for more than 20 years. To what extent have customer inquiries changed during this time?
Issler:
The demand for pure testing services has declined noticeably in recent years, partly due to the changes in vehicle technology. Comprehensive testing programs that focus purely on determining the properties of structural steel materials, as was common in the development of combustion engines and injection systems, have also become less important. Instead, the demand for the characterization of “new” functional materials such as electrical steel, permanent magnets, copper alloys and membranes is increasing. This is also the reason why we are now concentrating more on testing components and systems than on testing samples.
Häfele:
Another trend is that customers are increasingly demanding “all-round carefree packages” from us. For example, we are often asked not only to test components or samples, but also to carry out measurement tasks such as strain gauge measurements, material tests such as testing hardness, microstructure, chemical composition and fractographic follow-up examinations. This is due to the fact that some companies no longer consider these activities to be part of their core competence and therefore usually outsource them to specialized service providers.
While we were hardly ever asked whether we were certified when our Steinbeis company was founded over 20 years ago, this question is becoming increasingly important today. In some sectors, such as medical technology and classification societies, there is now almost universal demand for certified testing.
Your services also include safety assessments of components. In which situations is your expertise in this area in demand from your customers?
Issler:
We carry out strength tests for our customers on all types of highly stressed components. We not only look at the load side when it comes to determining the distribution of the load spectrum, but also the material strength. It is often a matter of eliminating conservative buffer when calculating strength – without having to take risks in terms of safety. The focus is on determining the service life of cyclically loaded components according to different concepts. This also requires research results that stand up to the investigations and confirm that the assumptions made were correct.
Häfele:
Another area we are working in is damage assessment. This involves investigating why a component was damaged when it was used in service or lab tests. This often involves first analyzing the fracture surfaces in order to understand the exact location of a fracture and the damage mechanisms involved. We then check the component specifications, e.g. the material properties. This often leads to the development of a hypothesis based on test results, which is then verified by performing tests on a demonstrator specimen. In many cases, these tests also result in suggestions for damage prevention.
Häfele:
There have indeed been some major changes in recent years. On the one hand, this has to do with the changes that are taking place in entire branches of industry, for example in vehicle technology, in mechanical and plant engineering, but also in energy technology. And of course this also leads to technological changes in the requirements for materials and components.
In automotive engineering, for example, this means that the development of steel-based materials is less in demand – although the characterization of functional materials and connecting parts in energy storage systems, electric motors or even hydrogen drives is now important.
Issler:
Of course, in terms of our future viability, this also means that our Steinbeis Transfer Center must continue to develop and evolve. This includes adapting the equipment, for example the testing and measuring devices, but above all the further development of our employees’ skills. Above all, this concerns methodological competence and the flexibility to adapt to the constant changes that are happening around us.
Kontakt
Dr.-Ing. Stephan Issler (Interviewpartner)
Steinbeis-Unternehmer
Steinbeis-Transferzentrum Bauteilfestigkeit und -sicherheit, Werkstoff- und Fügetechnik (BWF) an der Hochschule Esslingen (Nürtingen)
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Häfele (Interviewpartner)
Steinbeis-Unternehmer
Steinbeis-Transferzentrum Bauteilfestigkeit und -sicherheit, Werkstoff- und Fügetechnik (BWF) an der Hochschule Esslingen (Nürtingen)