Stuttgart – Developments that can lead to greater materials and energy efficiency with a concomitant increase in load capacity or dynamics are considered in innumerable industries to be absolutely indispensable for competitiveness and for safeguarding the future. One key technology in this regard is lightweight design. Europe’s only specialist trade fair euroLITE, which will take place from 23 to 25 June 2009 in Salzburg (Austria), will present the entire spectrum of software tools, materials, and manufacturing technologies for lightweight constructions. A correspondingly high level of interest has been shown by providers of these products and solutions; 81 per cent of the previous year’s exhibition space has already been reserved, which includes numerous new exhibitors. The complementary theme parks – “Joins and Connections”, “Surface Treatments”, “Metal Plastics: Hybrid Building Components” and “Bionic Village” – will demonstrate solutions for dealing with the specific challenges of lightweight design. And the Leichtbau-Cluster Landshut is again organising a three-day lightweight design conference.
Given the limited raw material and primary energy resources in a situation of growing demand worldwide, planned legal specifications for the further reduction of CO2-emissions from vehicles, and the increase in energy efficiency classes for investment and consumer goods, the need for efficient lightweight solutions is growing – in vehicle construction (street and rail), air and space travel, and boat and yacht construction as well as among manufacturers in mechanical engineering, automation technology, drive technology and energy technology. However, in the sporting and leisure industry and in many other industries as well, lightness also is becoming more and more a factor. Designed to be systematically and consistently oriented toward the lightweight process chain, euroLITE is the ideal platform for presentation, information and communication and is used by more and more providers. Five months before the start of the 3rd International Trade Fair for Lightweight Design, 81 per cent of the 2008 exhibition space has already been reserved. The list of exhibitors includes such names as Axxor, Becker Carbon, CAMTECH, C. F. Maier, Corex Honeycomb, Drahtwerk Elisental, Evosteel, First Cut Prototype, Intellifast, Illichmann Aluminium, IWE Greifswald, Leiber Group, Leichtmetallkompetenzzentrum Ranshofen (LKR), Leistner, Dr. Mirtsch, O. ST. Feinguss, Protomold, Quality Analysis, Schaumform, Simulia, Teijin Aramid, TOX Pressotechnik, Trocellen, voest alpine Krems and a collective stand from the Netherlands.
Whole spectrum of lightweight design
“Along with a broad range of lightweight design materials, the exhibitors at euroLITE offer tools for construction and simulation, prototype and model construction, manufacturing technologies, serial production of lightweight components, joining and connecting technologies, surface treatment, systems and processes for component testing, services and research”, explained Wieland Kniffka, a managing director of H & K Messe GmbH & Co. KG which is organising the event.
With its comprehensive and representative range, euroLITE facilitates targeted information gathering and effective establishing of contacts for design engineers, development engineers, designers, production managers and purchasers as well as decision-makers at executive and management levels.
Theme parks - specific problem solving One of the greatest challenges in lightweight construction is joining and connecting technology, as this must not impinge upon the weight and materials advantage that has been achieved. The “Joins and Connections” theme park will present innovative and proven processes for lightweight design. Often the potential for weight reduction can also be tapped with functional layers and other surface treatments – a topic to which the “Surface Treatment” theme park is dedicated. Another topic is the demands that lightweight materials such as magnesium or bonding materials place upon the surface technology, for example protection against corrosion. The central focus of the “Metal Plastics: Hybrid Building Components” theme park will be custom-built hybrid structures from metal and plastic. Possibilities for optimal construction in terms of rigidity, crash behaviour and utilisation of materials through selective combinations of materials and thicknesses will be introduced.In the “Bionic Village”, which will be realised in collaboration with the International Bionik-Zentrum – Stiftung für Bionik (IBZ, International Bionics Centre), Bionik-Kompetenznetzwerk BIOKON e.V., Saarländischen Bionik-Kompetenznetz BEN (Bionic Engineering Network), BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg GmbH and Bionik-Innovations-Centrum Bremen, companies and institutes will present innovative products and their most up-to-date research results.
Lightweight Design Conference – vital knowledge for greater lightness
Parallel with euroLITE 2009, the Leichtbau Cluster Landshut directed by Professor Otto Huber (Dr.-Ing.) is again organising a three-day lightweight conference. Focal topics of the presentations will be new developments and current trends in the areas of construction, materials, and manufacturing technologies. The high-level keynote addresses at the beginning of the various conference sessions will also rank as highlights. The call for papers, which has already received an overwhelming response, will extend until 31 March 2009.
euroSUPPLY parallel trade fair – the perfect complement
euroSUPPLY, the first trade fair for the supplier market in Central and South-eastern Europe, will be held concurrently with the 3rd euroLITE fair in the Salzburg Trade Fair Centre. In the words of Wieland Kniffka, “euroLITE and euroSUPPLY complement each other perfectly, and thus offer valuable synergy effects for both exhibitors and visitors”.
Entry tickets are valid for visiting both trade fairs. More detailed information is available at <link http: www.eurolite-expo.eu>www.euroLITE-expo.eu .
