EuroMold is the world fair for moldmaking and tooling, design and application development. Held 25-28 November 2014 at the Messe in Frankfurt am Main, Material will be present with the travelling exhibition ‘Lightweight Wonders.’ 

A bicycle of ‘knitted’ fibres? A building of inflatables? An athletic shoe of foamed PET? A column with a 3D printed bone structure? Or a yacht made of carbon? Be inspired and discover today’s strongest and most lightweight materials.

Why lightweight?

Growing demands for energy and raw resources are encouraging us to become increasingly efficient with materials. Like organisms in nature that perpetually evolve towards achieving maximum effect with minimum means, sectors of industry are constantly evolving in order to minimise their transport, fuel and energy costs. Most innovation in this respect currently takes place in transport industries such as the aerospace, automotive and marine industries, as well as in public transport and the transport of goods. But innovation occurs not only where scarce fuel needs to be saved. The call for achieving more with less through the use of strong and lightweight materials is also taking place in the (interior) construction industry in order to save costs and manpower for example, as well as in the sporting industry where there is a demand for materials that improve athletic performance.

It seems that every year the record for the most lightweight material in the world in set again: from aerogel one year to carbon foam the next. Additive manufacturing is also offering new perspectives as 3D printers are able to recreate the structure of cellular organic materials such as bones that are efficient because they only use material where it is needed. Not only the material itself but also it’s configuration makes a difference. Some innovative material configurations include complex knitted fibres, laminates, complex winding techniques and structural lattices.

Exhibition with Material Samples

In this exhibition, visitors can interactively become acquainted with lightweight materials, their operation and effects. From glass foam to 3D printed columns, from the development of new fibres to inflatable textiles, from ingenious cell structures to ultra thin laminates and many more inspiring applications, the visitor is challenged to interact with each material by lifting it, touching it and testing it’s strength.

“Our goal, as a worldwide networking organization, is to connect creative professionals and industry with materials that add value to their projects,” says Jeroen van Oostveen, the director of Materia. “At the same time, we build bridges between our customers and other markets – both geographically and within the construction sectors in which they work. The presentation at EuroMold is a good example of the kind of collaboration that can provide our customers new opportunities. It is a true win-win situation for all involved.”

Visitors

Be inspired and come to Lightweight Wonders at the Mess in Frankfurt am Main. Find out more information here.