One conference - Six awards
Max-Planck micromechanics team wins at Nanomechanical Testing in Materials Research and Development conference
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials (MPI-SusMat) won several poster and young researcher awards at the Nanomechanical Testing in Materials Research and Development conference in Messina, Italy, which is regarded as one of the most prestigious conferences in the micromechanics community. The conference participants voted in total six times for the MPI-SusMat team.
The first place in the young researchers’ oral presentations went to Lalith Bhaskar. He presented his research on a custom-built micromechanical system that tests materials for hardness, specifically under very high constant strain rates. The need for testing materials under these extreme condition increases with the advancement in high-speed machining, micro/nanoelectronics and future transportation systems where materials are exposed to extreme demands including high strain rates. Bhaskar tested the effects of high constant strain rates on nickel, fused silica and molybdenum.
Hendrik Holz won two awards with his poster titled “High strain rate nanoindentation on a low angle grain boundary in copper”. The first place was awarded to him for the poster itself. In his research, he investigated if low angle grain boundaries, which are present in almost all metal parts, influence mechanical properties of materials. He compared tests close to and far apart from the grain boundary at different deformation speeds showing that the influence is too small to be measured through nanoindentation. In the poster pitch, where he made the second place, Holz had to present his work in just 40 seconds.
Shreehard Sahu’s poster on high-temperature in-situ mechanics of hematite was also voted in first place by the conference participants. He discussed the challenges in testing iron oxides like hematite under vacuum conditions at temperatures up to 700⸰C. Challenges during experiments include material degradation due to electron beam contamination further accelerated by Gallium during ion beam milling. Hematite and other oxides are being reduced with hydrogen to produce green steel thus understanding their mechanics directly helps to improve green steel production.
Jing Rao’s poster titled “Hydrogen-induced hardening effect and the diffusion behaviour in bcc FeCr alloys by in-situ nanointendation” studied hydrogen embrittlement and won first place as well. A key challenge in understanding hydrogen-induced mechanical degradation of materials is the role of mobile hydrogen. In her study, a novel approach was implemented, enabling the measurement of mechanical properties and diffusion coefficient of Ferro Chrome (FeCr) alloys simultaneously. Her results quantitatively assessed the hydrogen content in FeCr alloys using thermal desorption spectroscopy, offering valuable insights into hydrogen uptake and retention characteristics as a function of Cr content, dislocation density and grain size. These findings provide guidance for future design of hydrogen-resistant materials.
To round off a successful conference, group leader James Best showcased his expertise in nanomechanics and the history of the ECI conference during a lively quiz winning a jar of Sicilian pesto.
The conference is organized by “Engineering Conferences International” and brings together scientists and industrial stakeholders working in the field of nano- and micromechanical testing in materials research and innovation. This provides a forum for discussion of the latest activities and findings in applying nano- and micromechanical testing methods.
