TRR 188 Best Paper Award for Niklas Fehlemann and Angelica Medina

Recognising the successful integration of micromechanical experiments and crystal plasticity modelling: The award-winning study enables the prediction of the deformation behaviour of a commercially used dual-phase steel.

The Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio 188 “Damage Controlled Forming Processes” is currently in its third funding period. This year’s autumn general assembly marked the first presentation of its Best Paper Award. The entire TRR community – including doctoral researchers, staff members and principal investigators – selected the best paper of the year from the submitted publications by secret ballot.

The paper by Niklas Fehlemann and Angelica Medina won by a narrow margin of just one vote. The award-winning publication builds on several hundred systematic micro pillar compression tests used to calibrate a crystal plasticity model. For the first time, this approach enabled the prediction of the macroscopic stress–strain behaviour of the polycrystalline dual-phase steel DP800 without additional input parameters. The study thus bridges the deformation behaviour of individual microscopic constituents and the mechanical response of a technologically relevant structural material.

The experimental work was carried out at KIT’s IAM-MMI. The Institute of Metal Forming (IBF) at RWTH Aachen University contributed its expertise in crystal plasticity modelling. The award also recognizes the close and successful collaboration between the two institutions.

IAM-MMI warmly congratulates Niklas Fehlemann, Angelica Medina and all contributors on this award!

Further reading: 10.1016/j.actamat.2025.121321