Chair of Structural Engineering at the 2026 SME Innovation Day

The Chair of Structural Engineering at the University of Siegen participated in the 2026 SME Innovation Day organized by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) on June 11, 2026, presenting two ZIM collaboration projects on bullet-resistant glass and lightweight glass. M.Sc. Henrik Reißaus, M.Eng. Christian Hammer, and Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thorsten Weimar presented the two research projects with posters and exhibits. At the event in Berlin, approximately 300 exhibitors showcased the results of research projects funded through the Central Innovation Program for SMEs (ZIM).

The exhibit on safety glass presents the results of the completed ZIM collaborative project on the development of bullet-resistant glazing with thermal insulation, conducted in partnership with SiLATEC Sicherheits- und Laminatglastechnik GmbH from Gelting. Extensive ballistic tests on single and composite materials enable the verification of a numerical simulation model for the preliminary design of bullet-resistant cross-sections. The development has resulted in bullet-resistant glazing of resistance class BR 6 with a total thickness of 47 mm, a weight of 101.8 kg/m², and a heat transfer coefficient of 0.7 W/m²K.

Leichtes Glas will present the results from the completed ZIM collaborative project on the development of laminated safety glass with interlayers of higher stiffness, conducted in partnership with Glas Schneider GmbH & Co. KG of Hachenburg. The focus is particularly on material characterization and material modeling of the various polymer interlayers using a newly developed test setup with fiber-optic sensors. Using these characteristic values, the advantage of shear bonding between the individual glass panes can be specifically leveraged for single-pane and multi-pane insulating glass. Compared to conventional interlayers with low to medium stiffness, this results in lightweight and slim glazing assemblies.