Eideard

Producing metallic hollow spheres is complicated: It has not yet been possible to make the small sizes required for new high-tech applications. Now for the first time researchers have manufactured ground hollow spheres measuring just two to ten millimeters.

New drive technologies combined with lighter and stronger materials will make the airplanes and automobiles of the future more fuel-efficient. But a number of technical details need to be resolved first. Magnetic ball valves are one example – for them to react extremely quickly, the balls must be as light as possible, and the same applies to rapidly moving bearings. Hollow spheres made of steel represent a solution.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing and Advanced Materials IFAM in Dresden working in cooperation with hollomet GmbH Dresden have created the technology for the manufacture of rapidly reacting ball valves and bearings. “In an injection valve the movement of a ball causes the valve to open and close. The lighter the ball, the quicker it moves,” explains Dr.-Ing. Hartmut Göhler, project manager at the IFAM.

“For the first time we’ve been able to produce metal hollow spheres in the required diameter of just two to ten millimeters. The hollow spheres are 40 to 70 percent lighter than solid ones.”

RTFA. The process is ingenious. It even appears to be practical.

Bravo!