In the landscape of future energy supply, technologies using hydrogen as energy carrier are a key-technology necessary for decarbonisation. One essential aspect of harnessing the potentials of Hydrogen as an energy carrier lies in storage and transport. This necessitates the development of large stationary pressure vessels, as well as mobile pressure vessels for use in automobiles, trucks, buses, rail transport, and aerospace.

The AZL engineering team boasts expertise and experience in the layout, design, and production concepts of new components and comprises the technologies for designing and producing hydrogen pressure vessels. As an engineering service provider and R&D centre for composite-based lightweight construction, hydrogen pressure vessels are the subject of numerous activities and projects.

OUR OFFER

Deliverables:

• Workshop: An interactive and hands-on workshop with AZL experts
• Report: Comprehensive documentation 500+ pages

The package includes

• Market & industry insights
• Share regulatory, standards & IP landscape info
• Present latest design, materials & manufacturing state-of-the-art
• Create reference designs for evaluating KPIs
• Design and CAE analysis of thermoset and thermoplastic composite pressure vessels for the evaluation of:
  Cost | Weight | CO₂-Impact | Recycling Options

BACKGROUND

Since 2015, the AZL Composite Pipes & Vessels Workgroup has been fostering a collaborative platform that connects active partners from research, industry, and production and application development in the field of pipes and vessels. Through this network, the exchange of knowledge and technology insights takes place and focus studies on pressure vessels have been conducted. Within a Joint Partner Project with 25 industrial partners on the topic of „Trends and Design Factors for Hydrogen Pressure Vessels“ AZL created a comprehensive knowledge base. The one-year project explored regulations, examples of state-of-the-art pressure vessels, design procedures, and software packages. Detailed designs were made using various materials, addressing hydrogen permeation, leakage, weight, cost, CO₂ footprint, and recycling options. AZL also offers customised support in the development of new designs, material and component testing and prototype production.

Download the flyer

If you are interested and would like to receive more information, please get in touch with:

Philipp Fröhlig
Head of Industrial Services | AZL Aachen GmbH
Phone: +49 241 475 735 14
Mobile: +49 176 80488799
Email: philipp.froehlig@azl-aachen-gmbh.de

Electric vehicles are rapidly gaining market share over combustion engine vehicles. To achieve an acceptable range, they require large battery packs with high energy density located beneath the car. These large packs pose a fire risk, necessitating various protection measures to meet fire safety standards and regulations.

For the development of new battery housings and the use of new materials, extensive knowledge of the fire behaviour of different materials is necessary. Comparable data of different materials helps to select the right materials and also serve as a database for further development.

In order to learn more about the fire behaviour and mechanical behaviour of materials for battery packs, an instrumented test setup was designed and built that allows testing of materials at different flame temperatures and simultaneously measuring the material strength under fire load. The strength values can be used in the CAE design of new battery packs.

More than 50 different materials were tested in a joint partner project at nominal flame temperatures of 800, 1.000 and 1.200°C. The tested materials included aluminium and steel, thermoplastic and thermoset materials, short, long and continuous fibre materials, and various kinds of shielding materials/protection layers.

We offer this Technology Access Booster Package to provide an understanding of the fire requirements of battery casings. The knowledge about the fire properties helps to select suitable materials or to classify the performance of your own materials. Many AZL partners also have their own materials tested in order to compare them with other materials.

OUR OFFER

Deliverables:

• Workshop: An interactive and hands-on workshop with AZL experts
• Report: Comprehensive documentation 300+ pages

The package includes

• Overview on requirements
• Introduction of different solutions and test methods 
• Real cell test results as reference
• Test results of 50+ materials 

BACKGROUND

Battery housings have also been the focus of AZL projects for several years. Numerous joint partner projects and individual projects have been carried out on the subject of battery housings. In a concept study, 20 different concepts for multi-material battery housings were developed and evaluated with regard to their KPIs. A joint partner project “Fire Protection – Application relevant Fire Test Procedure for Composites” was carried out to create a new testing method and to build up a broad database.

Additional tests have also been developed. OEMs, tiers and material manufacturers use the testing services today. The data is used for research and development projects.

AZL is currently running projects on the topics of “Emerging Battery Storage Technologies” and “Thermal Propagation”.

Download the flyer

If you are interested and would like to receive more information, please get in touch with:

Philipp Fröhlig
Head of Industrial Services | AZL Aachen GmbH
Phone: +49 241 475 735 14
Mobile: +49 176 80488799
Email: philipp.froehlig@azl-aachen-gmbh.de

The future of automotive drive systems is electric. As electric vehicles gain market share, efficient and safe battery integration becomes a key challenge. Battery casings must protect high-energy battery systems while meeting demanding requirements for stiffness, crash safety, thermal management and lightweight design.

Two major technology trends are shaping the development of battery casings. Multi-material concepts based on composites offer significant potential to reduce weight while improving stiffness, corrosion resistance and fluid impermeability compared to conventional aluminium or steel solutions.

At the same time, many OEMs and suppliers are moving towards cell-to-pack architectures, where battery cells are integrated directly into the pack without modules. This approach can reduce system complexity, lower costs and increase energy density, while potentially enabling structural integration into the vehicle.

AZL Aachen GmbH continuously analyses battery casing technologies, materials and design concepts. Through various industry and research projects, AZL has built extensive knowledge on multi-material battery structures, emerging cell-to-pack concepts and their design and manufacturing implications.

OUR OFFER

Deliverables:

• Workshop: An interactive and hands-on workshop with AZL experts
• Report: Comprehensive documentation 500+ pages

The package includes

• Market & industry insights

• Share regulatory, standards & IP landscape info

• Present latest design, materials & manufacturing state-of-the-art

• Investigation results on 20 multi-material battery casing concepts

• Investigation results on 4 different cell-to-pack layouts using different cell types and cooling strategies

• CAE optimizations against relevant load cases

• Evaluation of cost, weight and volume efficiency

BACKGROUND

As a close partner of RWTH Aachen University, one of the world’s leading universities in the field of production technology, AZL Aachen GmbH specialises in lightweight construction. As a central, interdisciplinary solution provider, AZL Aachen GmbH supports its customers in analysing, understanding and developing products, processes and markets.

Battery housings have been the focus of AZL projects for several years. Numerous joint partner projects and individual projects have been carried out on battery casings. In a concept study with 46 companies, 20 different concepts for multi-material battery housings were developed and evaluated with regard to their KPIs.

AZL has also built extensive knowledge on cell-to-pack architectures as well as battery safety topics such as impact and fire behaviour. Many companies today use AZL’s design, prototyping and testing services.

⏬ Download the flyer

If you are interested and would like to receive more information, please get in touch with:

Philipp Fröhlig
Head of Industrial Services | AZL Aachen GmbH
Phone: +49 241 475 735 14
Mobile: +49 176 80488799
Email: philipp.froehlig@azl-aachen-gmbh.de

OUR OFFER

Deliverables:

• Workshop: An interactive and hands-on workshop with AZL experts
• Report: Comprehensive documentation 100+ pages

The package includes

• Market & technology screening incl. IP landscape info
• Present latest design, materials & manufacturing state-of-the-art
• Features and load cases
• Description and evaluation of three different design concepts
• Evaluation of KPIs

⏬ Download the flyer

If you are interested and would like to receive more information, please get in touch with:

Philipp Fröhlig
Head of Industrial Services | AZL Aachen GmbH
Phone: +49 241 475 735 14
Mobile: +49 176 80488799
Email: philipp.froehlig@azl-aachen-gmbh.de

OUR OFFER

Deliverables:

• Workshop: An interactive and hands-on workshop with AZL experts 
• Report: Comprehensive documentation 300+ pages

The package includes

• Overview of the propeller and rotor market analysing their potentials and challenges
• Comprehensive understanding of the requirements for propellers and rotors, the characteristics of various materials, and the techniques used in production
• Evaluation of advanced propeller design and possible future applications
• Understanding of the complete process chain of the realization of propellers and rotors based on selected highlight components, incl. design and cost evaluation

⏬ Download the flyer

If you are interested and would like to receive more information, please get in touch with:

Philipp Fröhlig
Head of Industrial Services | AZL Aachen GmbH
Phone: +49 241 475 735 14
Mobile: +49 176 80488799
Email: philipp.froehlig@azl-aachen-gmbh.de

OUR OFFER

Deliverables:

• Workshop: Interactive and hands-on workshop with AZL composite and motor experts
• Report: Comprehensive documentation (350+ pages) including:

The package includes

• Overview of the electric motor market and the role of composite rotor sleeves
• Functional requirements
• Material comparison: carbon fibers, resin systems, thermoplastics and towpregs
• Winding technologies: Wet, Towpreg, Thermoplastic tape
• Manufacturing strategies: Direct winding vs. press fitting
• Design optimisation strategies for minimal thickness and material use
• Cost structure and business case assessment

⏬ Download the flyer

If you are interested and would like to receive more information, please get in touch with:

Philipp Fröhlig
Head of Industrial Services | AZL Aachen GmbH
Phone: +49 241 475 735 14
Mobile: +49 176 80488799
Email: philipp.froehlig@azl-aachen-gmbh.de