What at first sounds like squaring the circle, however, ultimately describes "only" the work of a really good plastics compounder: to always condense the unique, specific solution for the respective requirement from an almost unlimited number of potential solution options/tribological plastic compounds. Namely, exactly the plastic compound that contributes significantly to a convincing intermediate or end product - from all decisive points of view. Since these products are mostly invisible in everyday life, we will focus on them here today: The different areas of application for tribological plastic compounds.

Helping people get healthy or even survive is a multi-faceted, multi-layered team effort. In the field of sophisticated medical technology, this comprehensive spectrum also includes all the people who provide the appropriate high-performance plastics for the development of precisely this technology: the plastics compounders who ensure the optimum composition/performance of the required materials.

"If you can dream it, you can do it." That there really is a lot of truth in this quote from Walt Disney is also proven by the "Fluoropolymer Compounding Story" from LEHVOSS North America. A story about a small team, who are always able to create or compound highly resilient material solutions from the most diverse customer requirements. Material solutions based on a variety of materials, with a special expertise in fluoropolymers.

The year is 1985: In the USA, President Ronald Reagan is running for his second term in office; in England, Boris Becker is the youngest player ever to win the Wimbledon tennis tournament; in Hamburg - Germany's second-largest city - Lehmann&Voss&Co has recently started producing and selling "high-performance compounds"; and the subject of recycling is increasingly making its way into everyday life. More and more municipalities in Germany have recently started to install wastepaper containers in addition to the then still young waste glass containers; more and more people are including terms such as "resource conservation," "secondary raw materials," "value chain" or even "recycling" in their everyday vocabulary. No one yet suspects that in a few years Reagan will shout to the then Soviet president in Berlin: "Mr. Gorbachev - tear down that wall!"; that Boris Becker will win Wimbledon two more times, or that the topics of recycling and sustainability will become the megatrend of neo-ecology or central economic factors that will influence all business spheres. But as we all know, that should change soon ...

From a purely technological point of view, 3D printing is definitely impressive. Bit by bit - or: layer by layer - the technology is conquering and establishing its place in many industries. In the direct production of components as well as in tool making. Nowadays, an Airbus A 350 also takes off thanks to the approximately 1,000 parts that were created using 3D printing or as part of an additive manufacturing process. But does 3D printing also impress with its cost advantages or in terms of carbon footprint? Does it manage to generate added value compared to established production methods such as casting, injection molding or milling? It's all a question of detailed process consideration.

Lightweight design with plastics is the art of reconciling a wide range of requirements. Demands on the material, the design, the functional integration, the total cost of ownership, the component performance ... the list is long. In order to achieve an effective cost-performance ratio, it is advisable for the material itself to be highly modifiable - in such a way that it gives the designer free rein to think in any direction (for example, to decouple the typical dependence of the property on the processing orientation). Or, to put it another way, if the compounder masters the anisotropies of the material to a degree that enables the designer to come up with a perfectly adapted design for the function of his component. These four examples from the aerospace, mechanical engineering and sporting goods sectors clearly show the directions in which this can go:

What is easy to speak, often difficult to understand, is thousands of years old and today more relevant than ever? The tribology! In a nutshell, this is about the theory of friction (from ancient Greek tribein, meaning to rub/wear off and lógos, here meaning teaching). In the truest sense of the word, everything here revolves around the topics of wear, lubrication and lots of physics, chemistry and mechanical engineering. But one by one. Here is a short introduction with the 5 most important facts:

With the LUVOSINT and LUVOCOM 3F materials, the LEHVOSS Group offers optimized materials for industrial 3D printing.

In XCF, X stands for Extra. Behind this is the extra carbon fiber technology from the LEHVOSS high-performance compounds product line. With an emphasis on extra: in terms of material properties, it stands for extra stiff, extra strong and extra tough. In terms of customer requirements, it stands for extra-flexible, extra-modifiable and extra-customizable. Provided that one has mastered the entire spectrum of development and compounding: Then nothing stands in the way of improving properties simultaneously, along the three dimensions without sacrificing performance.

When manufacturing high-quality orthoses, filament 3D printing (3F) offers significant advantages over conventional manufacturing processes. There are no compromises in terms of the quality of the end product.