Fiber Manufacturing and Processing

The Fraunhofer ISC develops materials and optimizes processes for fiber production and processing. Functional fiber materials are used in various applications in a wide range of sectors, including regenerative medicine, the glass and textile industry and lightweight ceramic construction.

Depending on your filds of ​​application, we will advise you on the right fiber material and its optimal production process. Among other things, we offer you materials that are biodegradable, electrically conductive or temperature-stable.

The development of ceramic fibers and fiber coatings is the main research focus of the ISC location, the Fraunhofer Center for High Temperature Materials and Design HTL in Bayreuth.

All spinning processes are carried out as continuous spinning processes of rovings with 1 - 1000 filaments. Monofilament spinning lines for hollow fibers and two-component fibers for thick continuous fibers with diameters > 100 µm are also available. All spinning processes can be carried out in air or under inert gas. The conditions in the spinning shaft, such as atmosphere, temperature and gas flow, can be adapted to the specific requirements of the spinning mass. The spinning process is followed by pyrolysis and sintering of the spun fibers, which results in the transformation to ceramic fibers (1800 °C in air and 2000 °C under inert conditions).

Besides the ceramic fiber itself, fiber coatings are also developed at the HTL. The task of the coating is to enable damage-tolerant behavior of ceramic composites and to protect the ceramic fiber from corrosion. A comparatively inexpensive wet chemical process is used to apply the fibre coating. Process speeds of up to 1000 m/h are currently achieved. The HTL develops novel coating precursors for its customers and optimizes existing coating systems.

You can find out more about the range of services specifically for ceramic fibers on the website of our Fraunhofer Center for High Temperature Materials and Design HTL