ROHACELL® in Hyperloop

Advancing high-speed transportation requires innovative lightweight materials. The design team at the Technical University of Munich partnered with Evonik in the Hyperloop Pod Competition, using ROHACELL® ultra-lightweight foam as a core element of the pod's lightweight composite design

ROHACELL® Foam for Lightweight Hyperloop Pod Construction

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) accepted the challenge and went to work immediately. Their designs have achieved notable success. Since the beginning, TUM’s pod prototypes have won all rounds of the event, establishing competition benchmarks for performance and subsequently surpassing their own records. Evonik, with its ROHACELL® foam, has been an important partner to the Technical University of Munich.

ROHACELL® plays a key role in the pod’s main beam, which is built as a sandwich-design composite using a ROHACELL® foam core to support the part’s strength and stiffness requirements. The pod’s main beam must carry all attached components and withstand the high acceleration forces generated during operation.

ROHACELL® Foam Core Technology for Hyperloop Pod Structures

ROHACELL® SHAPES Supports Hyperloop Composite Structure Development

The ROHACELL® SHAPES department in Darmstadt, Germany, supported the TUM Hyperloop Team with highly accurate CNC-shaped core parts. Through close collaboration and ongoing communication between TUM and ROHACELL® SHAPES, the shaped cores were delivered just in time to support the team's development and manufacturing activities.

Whether designing a bicycle for mountain trails, an electric vehicle for road transportation, an aircraft for regional travel, or a high-speed Hyperloop transportation pod, ultra-lightweight ROHACELL® foam sheets and shaped parts can support lightweight composite designs that require a combination of low weight, strength, and stiffness.