First the bad news: Unfortunately, designers regularly have to face technical limitations. On the one hand, it is often not known that connection solutions using direct screwing can be implemented reliably in materials with a high carbon fiber content. On the other hand, it is considered to be very difficult. The good news: These assumptions are unfounded, and the facts tell a different story. Both short and long fiber-reinforced materials with carbon fibers are absolutely feasible in terms of joining technology. Two companies that should know – and above all can provide technically valid proof – are the closely associated companies Baier & Michels and LEHVOSS. They effectively eliminate the fear of subjects such as electrochemical corrosion, surface wear during the screwing-in process, creep resistance or joint strength after climate change tests. Even those fears of the most stubborn critics.

In the course of the European Green Deal, the call for environmentally friendly alternatives and closed-loop systems is also becoming louder and louder in the area of technical compounds. More and more companies are therefore already using recyclates when purchasing materials in order to reduce their carbon footprint and thus meet the requirements of the market. High-quality recyclates that can be used technically are in greater demand than ever before. They make a valuable and, above all, verifiable contribution to significantly reducing the ecological footprint.

The topic of high-performance compounds consists of far more than PEEK and Co. Every designer who is looking for new ways to replace metal, for example - whether for reasons of weight or corrosion - must be aware that, as an innovative pioneer, he is embarking on "winding paths full of stumbling blocks". This article is intended to show what needs to be taken into account to ensure that development projects with high-performance compounds are successful.

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 ...