Metallic Materials
Innovative material development for the energy of the future.
Head of Deparment: Dr. Michael Rieth
Our research and development work is part of large-scale research and makes an important contribution to energy research at national and European level. As a partner in the Helmholtz Association's energy program and a member of the EUROfusion large-scale research project, we are actively shaping the future of nuclear fusion.
Focus
We develop structural and functional materials that can withstand extreme conditions. These include high temperatures and heat fluxes, as well as high-energy neutron radiation in combination with mechanical, chemical, or time-critical loads. The material properties are tailored by us for each specific application case. In this way, we open up new applications and areas of use in the field of energy conversion. Typical examples include components of a fusion power plant, such as plasma-facing components (divertor), heat exchangers (blanket), and neutron multipliers (tritium breeding elements).
Competence
Our research is application-oriented and, above all, takes place under the aspects of large-scale research. Therefore, alongside sustainability and cost-effectiveness, the focus is particularly on the use of industrial production, forming, joining, and manufacturing technologies. Starting from an idea, our materials development encompasses theoretical modelling, thermodynamic and thermo-mechanical simulations, production in the laboratory and on an industrial scale, experimental characterization of all relevant properties, microstructural and chemical analyses, the manufacturing of prototypes (semi-finished products and mockups), as well as component testing under the respective operating conditions. Our goal is to provide novel materials, including the materials technology process parameters and key characteristics required for production and component manufacturing.
Network
Despite our focus on materials for very specific applications, the boundary conditions, requirements, and properties to be considered are very complex and diverse. So not all necessary investigations and experiments can be carried out within our department. Therefore, we collaborate closely with a variety of partners from KIT, industry, and other research institutions both domestically and internationally. In particular, the characterization and testing of prototypes requires access to large-scale facilities, such as test reactors for neutron irradiation: : HFIR, BR2, or experimental setups for the investigation of plasma-material interactions: HELOKA, ASDEX, GLADIS, JUDITH & JULE-PSI.
Automated modeling and validation
Group
Publicationslist
Stutz, H. H.; Mugele, L.; Lopez, J. D. A.; Zürn, J.
2026. Proceedings of the 21st ICSMGE. doi:10.53243/ICSMGE2026-268
Stetter, B.; Dully, J.; Drongelen, S. van; Stief, F.; Holder, J.; Steingrebe, H.; Zaucke, F.; Sell, S.; Stein, T.
2025. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Orthopädie und Orthopädische Chirurgie, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Unfallchirurgie, Berufsverband für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie, editors. Deutscher Kongress für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie (DKOU 2025). doi:10.3205/25dkou243
van Rooijen, E.; Vetsch, D. F.; Siviglia, A.; Vezza, P.; Farò, D.; Vanzo, D.
2026. Journal of Ecohydraulics, 1–16. doi:10.1080/24705357.2026.2671304
Kawon, K.; Setkowicz, Z.; Czyzycki, M.; Rauk, Z.; Wilk, A.; Slawek, A.; Cieslak, J.; Aquilanti, G.; Carlomagno, I.; Drozdz, A.; Chwiej, J.
2026. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 358, 127816. doi:10.1016/j.saa.2026.127816
Pastukh, S.; Sternik, M.; Jochym, P. T.; Łażewski, J.; Ptok, A.; Stankov, S.; Piekarz, P.
2026. doi:10.48733/IFJPAN/BD5550
Schubnell, J.; Farajian, M.; Ummenhofer, T.; Gkatzogiannis, S.
2020. DVS Congress 2020 : Große Schweißtechnische Tagung : DVS Campus : Vorträge der Online-Veranstaltungen vom 14. bis 18. September 2020, 449–455, DVS Media
Donninger, R.; Schörkhuber, B.; Wittenstein, A.
2026. Journal of Functional Analysis, 291 (9), Art.Nr: 111601. doi:10.1016/j.jfa.2026.111601
Diener, J.; Krafft, J.; Doğan, K.; Ten Klooster, I.; Krell-Roesch, J.; van Gemert-Pijnen, L.; Woll, A.; Wunsch, K.
2026. Frontiers in Digital Health, 8. doi:10.3389/fdgth.2026.1696474
Song, Y.; Sanchez-Espinoza, V. H.
2026. Journal of Nuclear Engineering, 7 (3), 43. doi:10.3390/jne7030043
Ghofrani, P.; Luu, T. D.; Tey, S. H.; Stein, O. T.; Kempf, A.
2026. Particuology, 115, 390–400. doi:10.1016/j.partic.2026.06.005
Gkatzogiannis, S.; Schubnell, J.; Knödel, P.; Farajian, M.; Ummenhofer, T.; Luke, M.
2021. Schweissen und Schneiden, 73 (4), 222–229
Häber, T.; Cárdenas, C.; Vijayaraghavan, S.; Othman, I. B.; Zimina, A.; Maurer, F.; Grunwaldt, J.-D.; Deutschmann, O.; Lott, P.
2026. Applied Catalysis B: Environment and Energy, 127073. doi:10.1016/j.apcatb.2026.127073
Franz, M.; Schmidbauer, L.; Ammermann, J.; Schaefer, I.; Mauerer, W.
2026. Proceedings of the 7th IEEE/ACM International Workshop on Quantum Software Engineering, 50–54, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). doi:10.1145/3786150.3788611
W7-X Team; Gao, Y.; Bozhenkov, S.; Feng, Y.; Thiede, S.; Jakubowski, M. W.; Geiger, J.; Stange, T.; Grulke, O.; Endler, M.; Otte, M.; Naujoks, D.; Fellinger, J.; Pisano, F.
2026. Nuclear Fusion, 66 (7), 076015. doi:10.1088/1741-4326/ae738e
W7-XTeam; Zanini, M.; Ford, O.; Bannmann, S.; Hausten, E. V.; Kügler, J.; Poloskei, P. Z.; Rahbarnia, K.; Romba, T.; Wolf, R. C.
2026. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 68 (6), 065033. doi:10.1088/1361-6587/ae7636
W7-X Team; Aymerich, E.; Pisano, F.; Sias, G.; Cannas, B.; Fanni, A.; Fellinger, J.; Gao, Y.; Jakubowski, M.; Thiede, S.
2026. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 68 (6), 065026. doi:10.1088/1361-6587/ae763a
W7-X Team; Gonda, T.; Pablant, N.; Maurer, D.; Ennis, D.; Langenberg, A.; Pütterich, T.; Buttenschön, B.; Wegner, T.; Reimold, F.; Romba, T.; Tamura, N.; Medina Roque, D.; Loch, S.; Knauer, J.; Fuchert, G.; Pasch, E.; Bozhenkov, S.; Jakob Brunner, K.; Wagner, J.
2026. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 68 (6), 065031. doi:10.1088/1361-6587/ae775b
Matthes, J.; Kollmer, M.; Eberhard, M.; Kolb, T.
2026. Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.20595383