Articles in the MPG Yearbook
Here you can download the MPIE contributions to the annual yearbook of the Max Planck Society (full texts are only available in German). In its yearbook the Max Planck Society renders account for the scientific research performed at its institutes. The yearbook includes among other things, scientific research reports from all the Max Planck facilities.
Yearbook 2019: Sustainable alloys for demanding applications
Materials in wind turbines, aircraft engines and steam turbines have to withstand high mechanical loads at high temperatures. At the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung, we have developed alloy concepts that not only meet such requirements, but which are also more cost-effective and sustainable than materials previously used. Together with our industrial partners, we are optimising these manufacturing processes.
Yearbook 2018: What do turbine blades, artificial knee joints and car bodies have in common – additive manufacturing in research
Summary:
Additive manufacturing offers many advantages compared to conventional production processes but its potential is not yet fully exploited due to a lack of suitable alloys. A research team at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung has now optimized the process parameters and the alloy design, paving the way for new applications.
Yearbook 2017: Steel with bone-like properties prevents materials’ fatigue
Summary
Materials which are subject to cyclic load, are often prone to fatigue and failure. An international team of scientists at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung developed a new steel inspired by the laminated structure of bone and thus preventing crack propagation on the microscale which would lead to fatigue.
Yearbook 2016: Understanding the complex interchange of magnetic and lattice excitations opens new routes in the design of innovative cooling materials
Summary
The systematic search of new materials solely based on computers as well as the development of the required highly accurate simulation tools is a major research topic at the MPI für Eisenforschung. In the present article, the approach is introduced using the example of magnetocaloric materials, which are explored to achieve new and energy efficient cooling strategies. For this purpose the complex interaction of two thermodynamic excitation mechanisms – the vibration of atoms in a crystalline lattice and the disorder of magnetic moments – is analyzed and systematically exploited.
Yearbook 2015: Nanostructured materials as key for regenerative energy sources
Summary
In consequence of the growing energy needs and the increasing environmental pollution alternative energyproducing, cost-efficient and environmental friendly concepts are needed. Diverse nanostructured materials are suitable for application in this field. The correlation between morphology, chemical composition and properties of the nanostructures are investigated with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and its analytical techniques and are one of the main research activities of the independent research group “Nanoanalytics and Interfaces” at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung.
Yearbook 2014 (1st contribution): A new class of active and highly stable fuel cell catalysts
Summary
Why are our cars nowadays still not powered by fuel cells? – One of the main reasons is the degradation of the essential catalysts during fuel cell operation, which leads to a loss of active surface area and thus activity over time. Researchers from two Max Planck Institutes have joined efforts and developed and characterized novel nanostructured materials. A first break-through was achieved with a high-performance electrocatalyst that has demonstrated excellent stability properties.
Yearbook 2014 (2nd contribution): Small but strong – Micromechanics of miniaturized materials
Summary
Materials of any kind have to endure severe mechanical conditions, which ultimately determine their lifetime. How long can materials sustain cyclic (thermo-)mechanical loading? Is their response independent of material dimensions? Are new mechanisms occurring when the material volume decreases into the nanoworld? Finding fundamental answers to these questions and to use the knowledge to design robust materials is the basic research mission of the new group Nano- and Micromechanics at the MPI of Iron Research.
Yearbook 2013: Nanostructuring of one billion tonnes: On the way to the atomic design of new metallic alloys
Summary
Metallic materials are the backbone of modern industrial societies establishing their competitiveness in the production of complex products and processes. The basic research on metals has undergone a revolution in recent years, based on the fact that the structure and properties of alloys can be predicted and experimentally verified at the atomic level. These methods enable us to design new materials on the basis of their atomic structure.