SFB 761:  Steel - Ab Initio. Quantum Mechanics Guided Design of New Fe-based Materials

Subject Area Materials Science and Engineering
Chemistry
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Physics
Term from 2007 to 2019
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 29898171
 

Project Description

The collaborative research centre develops a methodically new, knowledge-based procedure for designing structural metals, with the high Manganese steels taken as an example. The central working hypothesis is that different deformation mechanisms can be controlled by the metal physics parameter stacking fault energy. As a consequence, for the first time the adjustment of strain hardening and cold formability becomes possible irrespective of the materials` strength level. The mechanical behaviour of a new class of austenitic steels is explained by the combination of fundamental theories, based on natural constants only, and classical engineering approaches in materials technology. Working groups of the RWTH Aachen University and the Max-Planck-Institute of Ferrous Research in Düsseldorf jointly develop models and methods from the atomistic to the macroscopic scale. New process routes are adopted and new characterisation tools developed in order to quantify the steels on the nm scale. Thanks to systematic nanostructuring the mechanical properties of the new materials are significantly superior to the state of the technology.
DFG Programme Collaborative Research Centres

Completed projects

Applicant Institution Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
Participating Institution Max-Planck-Institut für Nachhaltige Materialien GmbH (MPI SusMat)
Spokesperson Professor Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Bleck