Institute profile

At Fraunhofer LBF and the associated research group System Reliability, Adaptive Systems, and Machine Acoustics at the Technical University of Darmstadt, around 350 employees from various disciplines jointly contribute their expertise to interdisciplinary project work and our R&D services. Our main focus is on achieving excellent results with the greatest possible benefit for customers and project partners. As one of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's longest-standing institutes, Fraunhofer LBF can draw on more than eight decades of experience in working with OEMs and suppliers, large and small and medium-sized enterprises, and partners from industry and science. This is one of the reasons for the excellent understanding of systems and value creation among LBF scientists.

To this end, the Fraunhofer LBF team provides services along the entire value chain, from materials and their processing to the realization of the finished component and the complex system, right up to qualification with regard to safety and reliability. This is done in the service areas of Reliability Design, Digital Engineering, Smart Solutions, Circular Economy, Lightweight Design, and Future Mobility and includes solutions from product design to verification and validation – tailored to the individual customer. In the field of polymer technology in particular, the institute can provide support at a very early stage of the value chain with polymer synthesis and comprehensive material characterization.

Partner in the development process

With its characteristic, wide-ranging portfolio of expertise and services, Fraunhofer LBF reaches a large number of different markets. The institute's customers come primarily from the automotive and commercial vehicle manufacturing sectors, as well as from the chemical industry, but also from mechanical and plant engineering, aviation and defense, rail transport technology, shipbuilding, energy technology, construction, electronics and electrical engineering, and other sectors. The scientists and engineers at the institute see themselves as active companions in the innovation process of their customers, as initiators and process accelerators. They act as reliable partners in product development, analyzing complex problems and developing, evaluating and implementing customized solutions for safety-relevant mechanical engineering systems, vibration-prone lightweight structures and complex electromechanical systems. They support structured product development processes, including those based on the “V-model”.

In addition to the evaluation and optimized design of passive mechanical structures, active, mechatronic-adaptronic system solutions are also developed and implemented as prototypes. At the same time, Fraunhofer LBF continues to develop the corresponding numerical and experimental development methods and testing techniques with an eye to the future. The institute thus builds a strong bridge between science and industrial application – regionally, nationally and internationally.

The operational work is critically examined by continuous analysis of customer satisfaction. The management system of the Fraunhofer LBF is certified according to DIN ISO EN 9001:2000, the testing laboratory is accredited according to the requirements of DIN ISO-IEC 17025. On this basis, the institute enjoys an exceptionally high level of customer loyalty, over decades. Maintaining and further developing this is the goal of our work.

Shaping the future!

In close cooperation with the associated research division at the TU Darmstadt, the Fraunhofer LBF takes on future-oriented research topics and develops them into product and process innovations in collaboration with its customers. The solutions that arise help shape new trends. In doing so, the institute systematically utilizes its strong core competencies across all areas: numerical and experimental operational stability, system reliability, adaptronics and polymer technology have been expanded in both depth and breadth with a high degree of innovation and dynamism, particularly in the last decade. The institute summarizes its future plan in a regularly updated strategy document and has it reviewed and evaluated by external experts.

What connects us

We consider the trusting, sustainably successful cooperation, in the team of the Fraunhofer LBF and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft as well as with customers and partners, to be our greatest asset. The managers and employees of the Fraunhofer LBF are personally committed to this. The basis for this is formed by motivation, integrity, courage, transparency and commitment. Through a shared understanding of quality in the team, coupled with openness, tolerance and mutual respect, the Fraunhofer LBF repeatedly produces innovative research results and marketable solutions.