Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tobias Dickhut is a member of the SPACE Research Center and holds the Professorship of Composite Materials and Technical Mechanics.
Lightweight construction using fiber-reinforced plastics is an important part of space engineering in the field of launcher and satellite structures. Research at the Professorship of Composite Materials and Engineering Mechanics focuses on designs that are tailored to fiber-reinforced plastics. In order to be able to take full advantage of the potential of this technology, applications of force are researched and optimized. In addition, the integration of innovative functional elements into structures is examined in order to increase the potential for further weight reductions and to extend the technology’s scope of application. Research at the professorship focuses in particular on issues of the (hybrid) application of forces in a manner suitable for light-weight engineering to highly stressed structural components made of composite materials and the storage of cryogenic media in ultra-light tank systems.
In addition to the usual facilities for design research, the professorship has access to a new laboratory with the latest manufacturing capabilities for aerospace structures. This laboratory provides the opportunity to validate novel designs in specimens right up to prototypes.
Employees of the professorship at the autoclave, a device for the production of samples and components made of fiber-plastic composites. It operates at pressures of up to 10 bar and temperatures of up to 400°C.