Dr.-Ing. Thilo Grammes

Research Interests

My current research focus is set on joining technologies and thermo-mechanical properties of functionally graded materials under extreme conditions. This research within the European Union’s EUROfusion programme contributes to a new, sustainable source of energy: I develop protective tungsten coatings for the plasma-facing first wall of the future fusion power plant DEMO (the successor of ITER, https://www.euro-fusion.org/programme/demo/ ). This includes: Upscaling of plasma spray coating experiments to industrial scale, thermo-mechanical finite element simulations, assessment of coating microstructure (SEM/EDX/porosity), studies of coating adhesion by non-destructive (ultrasonic echometry) as well as destructive testing and micro-mechanical characterisation of functionally graded layers by instrumented indentation and micro-tensile testing.

Besides my interest in high temperature materials, my background in glass science has stirred a fascination for spectroscopic analysis methods ranging from the UV-vis to the far-infrared spectral range. I am always happy to discuss the application of spectroscopy to link chemical structure with physical properties.

In short:

  • Experimental mechanics at different temperatures, especially instrumented indentation and digital image correlation
  • Thermo-mechanical finite element simulations
  • Structure-property relationships with focus on spectroscopy
  • Engineering for fusion energy
  • Functionally graded materials and coatings
  • Glass science and geochemistry

 

Experience abroad

2018:   3 months in Greece, Athens, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute

2016:   6 weeks in Finland, Tampere University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology

2013/14:   1 year in Sweden, Luleå University of Technology, Master study programme Advanced Materials Science and Engineering of the European School of Materials ( https://www.eusmat.net/ )

 

Awards

2018:   Scholarship for scientific stay in Greece, by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

2018:   Supplemental scholarship for scientific stay in Greece, by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

2014:   Erasmus+ scholarship for Master studies, by Luleå University of Technology and the European Union

2013:   Full-year scholarship for Master studies in Sweden, by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD-Jahresstipendium)

2011:   Scholarship for Bachelor studies, by Studienstiftung Saar

 

Publications

Grammes T., Emmerich, T., Aktaa, J., W/EUROFER functionally graded coatings for plasma facing components: technology transfer to industry and upscaling, Fusion Engineering and Design 173 (2021), p. 112940, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2021.112940

Grammes T., Limbach R., Bruns S., van Wüllen L., de Ligny D., Kamitsos E. I., Durst K., Wondraczek L., Brauer D. S., Tailoring the Mechanical Properties of Metaluminous Aluminosilicate Glasses by Phosphate Incorporation, Frontiers in Materials 7 (2020) p. 115, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmats.2020.00115

Grammes, T., Structure and mechanical properties of aluminosilicate glasses, dissertation, Friedrich Schiller University Jena (2020), Germany, https://doi.org/10.22032/dbt.40834

Nizamutdinova A., Uesbeck T., Grammes T., Brauer D. S., van Wüllen L., Structural Role of Phosphate in Metaluminous Sodium Aluminosilicate Glasses As Studied by Solid State NMR Spectroscopy, Journal of Physical Chemistry B 124 (2020) p. 2691-2701, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b11403

Jung A., Grammes T., Diebels S., Micro-structural motivated phenomenological modelling of metal foams: experiments and modelling, Archive of Applied Mechanics 85 (2015) p. 1147-1160, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00419-014-0942-y

Diebels S., Grammes T., Goldschmidt F., Jung A., A microscopically motivated continuum model for cellular materials, Proceedings in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics 14 (2014) p. 421-422, https://doi.org/10.1002/pamm.201410198