Scientific Events

SurMat Workshop & Materials Day at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum

SurMat Workshop & Materials Day at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum
This year the annual Materials Day of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) will be joined by the doctoral programme SurMat of the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung (MPIE). This joint workshop will take place at the RUB from November 8th to 9th. The workshop gives an overview of the current research topics of the SurMat and the materials research department of the RUB. The presentations will be held both by members of the organising institutes and by external guest speakers. They are split up into five main sessions about: - physical properties of materials - research for sustainable energy - surface engineering - micro- and nanostructures phase transitions [more]

Hydrogen Embrittlement in Steels

Hydrogen Embrittlement in Steels
The Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung in Düsseldorf is organizing a workshop on hydrogen embrittlement in steels on June, 25th 2012 and would like to invite all interested research colleagues to participate in this event. The workshop is part of a series of topical one-day meetings at the institute. The intention is to bring together leading experts from academia and industry in a workshop format to enable in-depth discussions of fundamental and applied research regarding both current and preliminary research in this area. A broad variety of topics concerning hydrogen embrittlement in steels will be presented; covering topics from modeling of plasticity mechanisms, hydrogen-dislocation interactions, advances in characterization to alloy design and extreme environmental conditions. The event will take place in the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung at Max-Planck-Straße 1, 40237 Düsseldorf, Germany. The program also includes a lab session where new approaches used in characterization, alloy design and modeling will be demonstrated. If you would like to attend this event, then please register online on hesreg.mpie.de till June 20th 2012. We emphasize that registration is mandatory and that there are limited places only. The event is free of charge. [more]

Ab initio description of iron and steel - thermodynamics and kinetics

Ab initio description of iron and steel - thermodynamics and kinetics
The aim of the seminar is to bring together distinguished experts in ab-initio calculations and thermodynamic/kinetic modeling of metals and steels. In particular, the meeting will discuss recent progress in the accurate and efficient modeling of finite-temperature properties/processes and phase transitions. It is the fourth workshop in a series of international meetings devoted to the ab initio description of iron and steel (ADIS). In the workshop various ab initio approaches and thermodynamic/kinetic methods for the modelling of finite-temperature properties/processes and phase transitions will be discussed. In addition more empirical approaches, such as Calphad and Dictra, will be an important topic of the workshop. Key experts in these fields have been invited to give tutorial-like lectures on recent methodological advances and successful applications. The aim of the meeting is the discussion of concepts and exchange of ideas for a combination of these approaches in order to describe engineering materials. A particular (but not exclusive) focus will be on iron, steel and metal alloys. The development of ab initio based thermodynamic tools will be crucial to meet the increasing demand in fabricating novel alloys with tailormade properties such as e.g. light-weight high-strength steels in the car industry. The workshop is part of the activities of the collaborative research centre “Steel – ab initio” (SFB761), which provides most of the financial support. It is devoted to quantum-mechanically guided design of new Fe-based materials, with a particular focus on high-Mn steels. [more]

Image-Based Simulation for Biomechanics, Materials Applications and Reverse Engineering

Image-Based Simulation for Biomechanics, Materials Applications and Reverse Engineering
This seminar is aimed at those interested in 3D reconstruction from radiology images, and in using 3D image data (as obtained from CT, MicroCT, MRI and Ultrasound) to generate Rapid Prototyping, CAD, and Finite Element models. Attend this seminar to learn how to: »»Generate computer models from your 3D image data »»Import and position CAD files in the image data »»Integrate with Ansys, Abaqus, Comsol, LS-Dyna, or other solvers »»Use Simpleware software for specific applications in medical engineering or materials science Programme: 9.00 - 9.45 Presentation: Meshing from 3D image data - from materials characterisation to medical simulation 9.45 - 10.30 Demonstration: ScanIP+FE+CAD software - including new features from recent release 10.30 - 12.00 Further Questions & Refreshments Attendees are also encouraged to bring or send their own image data to get personalised support during or after the seminar. All data will be treated confidentially, and a secure FTP site will be available before the seminar. [more]

Unconventional Tools for Constructing Tunneling Junctions from Self-Assembled Monolayers

Unconventional Tools for Constructing Tunneling Junctions from Self-Assembled Monolayers
Despite remarkable advancements in the theory and spectroscopy, and the myriad tools for measuring tunneling currents through molecules, a central problem in the field of Molecular Electronics is the lack of robust, generalizable, scalable methods for leveraging self-assembly to construct devices. In this talk I will discuss two methods for using self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) to define the smallest dimension of tunneling-based devices; eutectic Ga-In (EGaIn) and Nanoskiving. EGaIn is a non-Newtonian liquid alloy with the remarkable ability to retain tapered structures simply by stretching it between to surfaces. These tapered structures can then be used to form reversible, non-damaging micron-sized contacts to SAMs of a variety of different types of molecules. Such a tip is pictured in the top figure, along with a cartoon of a tunneling junction and the J/V curves of three SAMs for which the conjugation pattern is shown to affect the tunneling probability via quantum interference. Pictured below are three different nano-gap electrodes fabricated by Nanoskiving, an emerging nanofabrication technique based on edge lithography. These electrodes are formed by separating two thin films of gold by a SAM and then slicing them using a diamond knife (Nanoskiving) to produce addressable structures that are millimeters long and separated by ~2 nm. They are electrically continuous and the separation of the electrodes can be controlled with sub-nanometer resolution without a clean room or any photo or e-beam lithography. [more]

Thin Film Metrology

Thin Film Metrology
The seminar "Thin Film Metrology" focuses on optical methods and applications for thin film analysis. Basics of spectroscopic ellipsometry, reflectometry and transmission measurements are presented. Contributions from experts cover the analysis of the properties of metallic surfaces, transparent conductive thin films, dielectric, magnetic and organic materials. The invited experts come from various research areas. Register as soon as possible, as the number of participants is limited to 30. You can send your registration per mail: sales@sentech.de or per Fax: +49 / 89 / 897 9607-22 For further questions please contact SENTECH under: +49 / 89 / 897 9607- 0 [more]

Novel functional materials based on nanoporous metals

Novel functional materials based on nanoporous metals
  • Date: Feb 9, 2012
  • Time: 02:30 PM - 03:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Weißmüller
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Weißmüller, head of the Institute of Materials Physics at the Hamburg University of Technology and head of the Hybride Materials Systems group at the Helmholtz-Center Geesthacht will hold a seminar talk at the MPIE on novel functional materials based on nanoporous metals.
  • Location: Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH
  • Room: Seminar Room 1
Nanoporous metals prepared by the corrosion of an alloy can take the form of monolithic, millimeter-sized bodies containing approximately 1015 nanoscale ligaments per cubic millimeter. Their structure size can reach down to the very limits of stability of nanoscale objects. The prospect of using alloy corrosion as a means of making nanomaterials for fundamental studies and functional applications has led to a revived interest in the process. One of the distinguishing features of the materials in question is their bicontinuous microstructure, with two contiguous and interpenetrating phases. When at least one of the phases—for instance, a gas in the void space—allows the fast transport of a signal, then the interfaces can be addressed and their properties manipulated. That predestines nanoporous solids as objects of study for a new class of functional materials, in which interfacial behaviour is controlled reversibly by external variables, and the entire material reacts. Nanoporous metal actuators or ‘metallic muscles’ exemplify that concept, as do photonic metamaterials with tuneable resonances and structural materials with tuneable strength and ductility. The quite distinct mechanical properties of nanoporous metals are of interest in themselves, since the relevant studies probe the collective deformation behaviour of macroscopic arrays of objects with dimensions at the lower end of the size scale. [more]
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