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The paper presents the manufacturing and hydroforming of partially cladded double blanks. This novel, semi-finished product can be produced by partial cold roll-bonded cladding. By printing a separating layer onto the contact surface beforehand, cold roll-bonded cladding, defined blank areas remain unjoined which can be bulged during hydroforming to a complex part. Favorable advantages result from the time and cost effective continuous joining process and the extended potential for a material combination aimed at optimally adapted multi-layer composites. Experimental investigations could prove a good joining strength and assure that the cold roll-bonded cladding does not significantly decrease the formability of the cladded blank material. Considering a heat exchanger and a roof rail, the experimental investigations could prove the producibility of parts based on partially cladded blanks and have shown an adequate shape accuracy of the produced parts.

Current tends in car body or rail traffic engineering aim at the realization of modern lightweight structures. In this context, demanding technological and economical requirements like the use of high strength materials, the forming of very complex geometries, and the reduction of costs, particularly with regard to low volume production, must be achieved. Novel approaches in the field of sheet metal hydroforming are able to overcome existing limitations of conventional forming technologies and feature a higher potential for an effective manufacturing of lightweight structures. This paper shows the current research work at the Institute of Forming Technology and Lightweight Construction (IUL) in the face of sheet metal hydroforming with a special focus on the design of tool systems.

Using a survey mode of inquiry, involving informants from 19global manufacturing companies in six sectors of the process industries, this study explores the intrinsic nature of product innovation of non-assembled products. Results show that the characteristics of the “transformation-based” production system in the process industries should not only govern the design of the total product innovation work process and the selection and use of related experimental environment but will also influence the design of the forthcoming production system. It is noted that pilot-planting and full-scale production trials are important instruments not only during the product development phase, but also afterward in solving B2B customers’ post-launch production problems. It is concluded that the experimental output from the product development phase of the product innovation work process for non-assembled products is both a new product design and a new foundation for the production process design.

As construction projects emerge from the traditional delivery processes to modern fast-track forms, stress has developed in the interface between the design professional's delivery process and effective construction production. This is no greater evidenced than at the specialty contractor level. The current attempts at fast-track team type projects remain largely a time-compressed form of the traditional processes with respect to the design-construct production flow. While many of these projects are comprised of a pre-selected "team" of design and construction firms, in most cases the role of the specialty contractor is limited to pricing exercises and perhaps some traditional "value engineering" suggestions during the design phases. Substantial improvements in production workflow, if any, have been generally limited to the area of cooperative construction activity sequencing and scheduling. Problems arising from this situation are illustrated and research is proposed for testing possible solutions.

The ultra-fine limestone powder can be used to replace cement or as admixture in concrete, improve the properties of concrete, reduce the dosage of cement and admixture, reduce cost, and realize the good combination of economical and environmental benefits. This paper presents the production process of ultra-fine limestone powder, compares research and application results of domestic and foreign scholars, analyzes existing problems, and provides reference for future research and application.