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
Gimpel, H.; Hall, K.; Decker, S.; Eymann, T.; Gutheil, N.; Lämmermann, L.; Braig, N.; Maedche, A.; Röglinger, M.; Ruiner, C.; Schoch, M.; Schoop, M.; Urbach, N.; Vandirk, S.
2025. Journal of Information Systems Education, 36 (3), 237–256. doi:10.62273/QLLG7172
Wang, Y.; Jin, Q.; Shao, C.; Zhang, Q.; Hohmann, J. K.; Muslija, A.; Li, S.; Li, Z.; Lemmer, U.; Yao, X.; Zhao, Q.
2025. Advanced Optical Materials. doi:10.1002/adom.202501310
Ponomarev, A.; Gröll, L.
2025. arxiv. doi:10.48550/arXiv.2505.20372
Meiners, A.-L.; Kray, P.; Gerling, K.
2025. Proceedings of The 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS ’25), Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). doi:10.1145/3663547.3759690
Ponomarev, A.; Gröll, L.
2025. 23rd European Control Conference (ECC 2025), International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC)
Vonficht, D.; Jopp-Saile, L.; Yousefian, S.; Flore, V.; Simó Vesperinas, I.; Teuber, R.; Avanesyan, B.; Luo, Y.; Röthemeier, C.; Grünschläger, F.; Fernandez-Vaquero, M.; Fregona, V.; Ordoñez-Rueda, D.; Schmalbrock, L. K.; Deininger, L.; Yamachui Sitcheu, A. J.; Gu, Z.; Funk, M. C.; Mikut, R.; Heikenwälder, M.; Eggert, A.; von Stackelberg, A.; Kobold, S.; Krönke, J.; Keller, U.; Trumpp, A.; Hegazy, A. N.; Eckert, C.; Hübschmann, D.; Haas, S.
2025. Nature Methods. doi:10.1038/s41592-025-02744-w
Wetzel, M.
2016. Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL). doi:10.5445/IR/1000183883
Stiefelhagen, R.
1996. Universität Karlsruhe (TH). doi:10.5445/IR/1000183881
Sperber, M.
2012. International Society for Computers and Their Applications (ISCA). doi:10.5445/IR/1000183879
Sperr, H.
2013. Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL). doi:10.5445/IR/1000183878
Vetter, M.
2016. Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT). doi:10.5445/IR/1000183875
Ruck, S.; Mercado, I. L.
2024. Proceeding of 9th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference (TFEC), April, 21-24, 2024, Corvallis, OR, USA, 917–921. doi:10.1615/TFEC2024.fnd.051008
Ruck, S.
2025. Everlasting Energy - In Memoriam Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert Stieglitz. Ed.: T. Wetzel; W. Tromm; J. Knebel, 127–135, KIT Scientific Publishing
Weimar, S. N.; Martjan, R. S.; Terzidis, O.
2025. Proceedings of 20th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2025)
Frese, M.; Blaß, H. J.
2025. doi:10.5445/IR/1000183867
Yang, G.; Jiokeng Dongmo, M. K.; Meurer, T.; Nirschl, H.
2025. Nano Select. doi:10.1002/nano.70044
Geisslitz, S.; Schierenbeck, M.; Börner, A.; Scherf, K. A.
2025. Food Science & Nutrition, 13 (8), Art.-Nr.: e70649. doi:10.1002/fsn3.70649
Jäger, T.; McIntyre, T.; Kalwij, J. M.
2025. African Journal of Ecology, 63 (5), Art.-Nr.: e70071. doi:10.1111/aje.70071
Ruck, S.
2025. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-48882-6