K – The International Trade Fair for Innovations in the Plastics and Rubber Industry

Düsseldorf / October 08, 2025 - October 15, 2025

K – The International Trade Fair for Innovations in the Plastics and Rubber Industry

Website K 2025

Hall 7, Level 0, Booth SC05 – at the joint Fraunhofer booth

K 2025 in Düsseldorf is the leading international trade fair for innovations in the plastics and rubber industry. Experts from production, processing and related sectors such as mechanical engineering, the automotive industry, electronics, medical technology, the packaging industry and construction use this platform to find out about the latest developments, exchange experiences and make valuable contacts. A comprehensive range of products and services in the areas of machinery, equipment, raw materials and measurement technology will be presented at the trade fair.

»Lighter – More Durable – More Digital«

Under the motto »Lighter – More Durable – More Digital«, researchers from the »Flow and Material Simulation« department at the Fraunhofer ITWM present the software tool »FOAM« that simulates the expansion and mold filling of PU foams in any geometry. It is used for the digital design and optimization of components with foam filling – for example in cooling units, battery modules, car seats or sandwich panels. The aim is to ensure even foam distribution and optimum thermal and mechanical properties.

Digital Design of the Lye Tank of a Washing Machine

Researchers will also be presenting the »DigiLaugBeh« project, in which they develop a digital twin that can be used to virtually optimize materials and components of a lye tank of a washing machine. The result is a robust, durable lye container that remains stable even at high spin speeds.

Terahertz Technologies for Quality Control and Assurance

The »Materials Characterization and Testing« department uses terahertz technologies for quality control and assurance in production processes. Diameter, wall thickness, layer structure, ovality and sagging (»sagging of the melt during solidification if the viscosity is too high«) are key parameters for the quality of plastic pipes and hoses, which an inline inspection system must determine and document in real time and early on in the process wherever possible. Various optical measurement techniques are available for this measurement task – depending on the specific requirements and always non-contact and non-destructive. A demonstration system at the trade fair will show the advantages of terahertz methods over conventional sensor types.

Optimization of Spinning Processes With »VISPI«

The developers of the VISPI software from the »Transport Processes« department present methods for simulating spinning processes such as BCF, spunbond and rotational spinning. VISPI enables a detailed analysis of the interaction between filaments as well as the energy exchange in the production processes. An important focus is on optimizing the hole diameter of the rotating disc to ensure a uniform fibre diameter in the end product. The software is already being used by industry partners to design the geometry of their machines and determine the optimum arrangement of the spinnerets in the spinning package.

To the Focus Areas

Lightweight and Long Fibers Save Energy With the Help of Simulations

In the project »DigiLaughBeh«, we design lightweight components as digital twins to optimize materials and components.

Sheet Molding Compounds (SMC)

The simulation of the production process of SMC enables the virtual design and optimization of fibre-reinforced plastic components.

Lightweight Construction and Insulation Materials

Non-Destructive Testing

With our terahertz and millimetre wave inspection systems, you can inspect non-metallic components non-destructively and without contact.

Layer Thickness Measurement

Optical techniques can be used to measure layer thicknesses contactlessly and non-destructively. The testing of multi-layer systems is also possible.

FOAM

The FOAM software solution simulates the expansion process of foams in any geometry and enables the prediction of foam formation and density in closed molds.

FeelMath

FeelMath is a fast and easy-to-use analysis tool for elastic microstructures given by 3D images (tomographies) or virtual material structures (e.g. GeoDict).

VISPI – Simulate Virtual Spinning

VISPI is a simulation software with which a we map and analyse a wide variety of spinning processes.

Fair

Düsseldorf / October 08, 2025 - October 15, 2025