October 8, 2025, 14:00 CEST
Forum at Domshof, Banking hall (Kassenhalle), Domshof 26, 28199 Bremen
Functionality of Products under Material Uncertainties
In the development cycle of new products, the prediction of the properties of the incorporated materials during production, usage, and recycling is fundamental. However, experimental results are usually only obtained on coupon level and cannot provide an accurate prediction.
The proposed project Functionality of Products under Material Uncertainties (FoPuMU) comes into play at this point by increasing the accuracy through the mathematical understanding of the underlying extrapolation. To ensure a broad application focus and prevent overfitting of the methodology, we consider two use cases representing different challenges: hydrogen tanks consisting of composite materials and dry-adhesive tapes consisting of polymers. Hydrogen is stored at very low temperatures, at which experiments are very hard to carry out. In the loosening process of dry-adhesive tapes, very large elastic deformations in the limit range of material characterization are observed.
Our approach to overcome these challenges lies in the understanding and improvement of the extrapolation of the available experimental results on coupon level to the application. To this end, we utilize two approaches: One based on classical models and one using artificial intelligence. The work on the extrapolation can only be done in a strongly interdisciplinary network including expertise from material design, application, measurement technique, and mathematics providing the necessary knowledge on all different fields supporting the control of all arising uncertainties.
This is a Joint Panel by:
Spokesperson: Andreas Rademacher (University of Bremen)
Werner Brannath (University of Bremen), Christof Büskens (University of Bremen), Andreas Fischer (University of Bremen), Katharina Koschek (Fraunhofer IFAM), Dirk Lorenz (University of Bremen), David May (University of Bremen, Faserinstitut Bremen – FIBRE), Kirsten Tracht (University of Bremen)
About the Idea Competition
To shape the next generation of collaborative research, the MAPEX Center for Materials and Processes invited all members to submit idea proposals and will fund up to two original and innovative themes from 2026. This panel at the MAPEX Anniversary Symposium 2025 presents one of them.
The ideas should present a clear vision demonstrating the potential to contribute to the profile building of MAPEX and the University of Bremen, addressing materials, processes and technologies. They should also contribute to the University’s fundamental guiding principle: sustainability. In the sense of high-risk funding, the proposed projects must break new ground and be distinct from ongoing or past activities of the applicants. The project’s idea is expected to pave the way for third-party funding for collaborative institutional projects, e.g. in the dimension of a DFG research training group or DFG collaborative research center.