Master Thesis Sustainable Plastics: Predicting the Aging Behavior of Plastic Composites from End-of-Life Automotive Parts for Material State Evaluation

The production of plastic products is still based almost exclusively on the use of fossil resources. Plastic recyclates have great potential to significantly reduce the CO₂ footprint compared to fossil raw materials and to make products more sustainable. At present, the use of recyclates, particularly in the automotive industry, is mostly limited to industrial waste. For the use of post-consumer recyclates, there is a lack of in-depth knowledge regarding the influence of aging during service life on the material state of plastics. Especially engineering plastics, which are used in large quantities in the automotive sector, remain largely explored. Within the scope of this thesis, the influences of temperature and humidity over a vehicle’s lifetime on the material condition of plastic composites will be simulated.

• The goal of your thesis is to review the literature on degradation mechanisms and existing models describing the aging of plastic composites.
• Moreover, the thesis could cover the selection of a suitable model for predicting in-service aging.
• Based on this, the second goal of your thesis is the prediction of material properties by means of aging simulations based on experimental and literature data.
• Last but not least, you will compare simulation results with findings from empirical tests (components from end-of-life vehicles, artificial aging).

• Education: Master studies in the field of IT, Mechanical Engineering or comparable
• Experience and Knowledge: good knowledge of Data Science, Modeling and Simulation; experience regarding plastics is an advantage
• Personality and Working Practice: you communicate effectively, work in a structured manner, and are motivated to contribute your ideas to the team
• Languages: fluent in German and English