The global COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for flexible and adaptive production. Especially Additive Manufacturing (AM) of medical and personal safety equipment like protective visors and respirators showed, that the period from the collapse of global supply chains to the local industrial production can be bridged by AM.

Additive Manufacturing offers the possibility to quickly and cost-effectively develop new laboratory equipment, which is indispensable for research in the chemical and pharmaceutical sector. To guarantee the operational readiness of these laboratory aids without additional process steps the number of structural parts such as bolts, gear or hinges must be minimized. The necessary functional integration can be achieved, for example, by using multi-material components made from a combination of rigid and flexible materials. However, this decisive advantage is currently limited by the fact that most polymeric materials available for Additive Manufacturing are incompatible with each other.

The ALaRM project investigates which design or process-related measures can be taken to ensure a sufficient physical or mechanical bonding. The focus is set on alternative resources independent from oil, such as locally producible biopolymers whose compatibility with standard plastics has not been intensively researched yet.