Project group Materials
The development and design of novel materials has been based on serendipitous discoveries and/or time-consuming cycles of synthesis and characterization. Due to the ubiquitous availability of computational resources, the materials discovery process can be accelerated, which is the aim of project group Materials (M). The development of tailored aluminum alloys that combine required strength with good ductility and particularly improved manufacturability states the central research question. Starting from promising Al-Mg-Zr alloys, attractive candidate compositions for experimental evaluation are scouted using an in-silico approach. Subsequently, the most attractive alloy systems are atomized to powders and the LPBF process is developed. Based on microstructural, chemical, physical, and mechanical investigations of the LPBF samples, a novel materials system with the envisaged combination of properties and processability is selected for the fabrication of metamaterials, designed in project group S.