Hoverlight: Revolutionary Damping Solution for Machine Tools by Fraunhofer Institutes

Machine tool design New composite material improves damping in machine tools

2025-01-30 Source: Fraunhofer IWU 3 min Reading Time

The Fraunhofer Institutes IWU and Ifam have developed Hoverlight, a unique damping solution for machine tools. This innovation delivers 20 percent weight savings and triple the vibration damping, enhancing precision and productivity.

The composite material Hoverlight has a core made of aluminium foam with encapsulated hollow spheres (visible in the cross-section as round openings). The combined damping effects of foam and particle-filled hollow spheres are comparable to those of magnesium.(Source: Fraunhofer IWU) — The composite material Hoverlight has a core made of aluminium foam with encapsulated hollow spheres (visible in the cross-section as round openings). The combined damping effects of foam and particle-filled hollow spheres are comparable to those of magnesium.
(Source: Fraunhofer IWU)

Fraunhofer Institutes for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU and for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials Research Ifam have made a breakthrough in materials research. The composite material Hoverlight sets new standards for the construction of machine tools: by combining aluminium foam and particle-filled hollow spheres, Hoverlight achieves an unprecedented combination of lightness, stiffness, and vibration damping. In a joint project with an industrial partner, the two Fraunhofer Institutes have demonstrated for the first time that Hoverlight can dampen vibrations in series machines by a factor of 3. All this comes with a weight saving of 20 percent compared to the original assembly.

Hoverlight is a composite of metal foam and hollow spheres and can serve as the core of sandwich structures. This sandwich principle results in a significant weight reduction, and the Hoverlight core guarantees high damping: the aluminium foam with the integrated hollow spheres dampens vibrations significantly more than previously used composite materials, leading to higher precision in machining and a longer lifetime of the machine. The sandwich construction also enables significant weight savings, allowing for higher dynamics in machining processes. Hoverlight adapts to the specific requirements of different applications.

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