Section: Production and Component Behaviour
Head: Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Hoffmeister
In the framework of the research of the section "Production and Component Behaviour" the interactions between production processes, component state and component behaviour at mechanical loading are investigated. The production processes considered are available either in the laboratories of production techniques of IWK I or within cooperations with institutes of production sciences.
Section: Hybrid and Lightweight Materials
Head: Dr.-Ing. Kay André Weidenmann
Hybrid materials, i.e. composites or compounds, made or joint from several materials play a very important role in industrial application. The aim of hybrid lightweight construction is the mass reduction of lightweight structures and simultaneously the increase of performance of the construction, which is reflected in higher strength, stiffness or improved fatigue strength. In addition to steels with a comparably high stiffness and density both light metals like aluminium and magnesium as well as polymers feature a high potential for lightweight construction due to their low density. One major advantage of the last-mentioned material class is furthermore the excellent processability. A disadvantage of all lightmetals and polymers is the low stiffness which may be increased by reinforcements like ceramic or metallic fibres or particles increasing both absolute and specific stifness.
The combination of different materials in compounds or composites results in the evolution of an interface which is essential for the composite's performance as it provides the internal load transfer between the composite's components.
Head: Dr.-Ing. Karl-Heinz Lang
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The works in the section “fatigue” deal with the improvement of the understanding of the damage mechanism which occur under thermal and mechanical fatigue loading. The objective is whose qualitative and quantitative description to obtain a base for the lifetime modelling and prediction, as well as to optimize the condition of the materials. In our laboratories there are extensive experimental test devices to carry out isothermal and thermal mechanical fatigue test. Besides tests which just focus on lifetime, tests are also carried out under stress and total strain control to determine the cyclic deformation behaviour under uniaxial push-pull loading as well as fatigue tests under torsion and superimposed push-pull and torsional loading.
Section: Structure and Stress Analysis
Head: Dr.-Ing. Jens Gibmeier
The Structure and Stress Analysis group focuses on the physical metallurgy of metal/ceramic composites and of two-phase alloys, the analysis of residual stresses in structural components, especially in mechanically treated edge zones, the development and application of advanced nondestructive techniques for materials characterization using X-rays our ultrasonic waves.
