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Ensuring that power plants operate without breaking down and that vehicles run energy-efficiently ultimately depends on just a few atoms. A virtual material probe makes it possible to see, and therefore control, tribological processes at the atomic level. A team of researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM is being awarded the Stifterverband Science Prize 2022 for this development.

To ensure that steel delivers what it promises, its microstructure is analyzed in detail to detect weak points during early stages. Today, this is largely done via visual inspection. Component manufacturers have long desired an automated image analysis method. In a cooperative project, the Fraunhofer IWM has now developed such a method based on neural networks. It delivers reliable and reproducible results and is a fundamental building block for the end-to-end digitalization of steel processing within Industry 4.0. The results have now been published in the scientific journals “Nature Communications” and “npj – computational materials”.

In materials and component research, artificial intelligence methodologies will lead to massive upheavals in the coming years. The processes of material development, material processing, lifetime prediction and material characterization will change significantly. By combining AI methods and new forms of knowledge representation, the data-based management of product life cycles will take on new qualities. To address this emerging field of research Fraunhofer IWM set up the online workshop »AI Methods for Fatigue Behavior Assessment and Component Lifetime Prediction« on November 24 and 25, 2021.

Four scientists from Freiburg have succeeded for the first time to simulate the localized growth of silicon crystals using shear-induced amorphization and recrystallization. In the future, experts could use this concept to tailor crystalline silicon structures for nanotechnology applications, such as nanoelectronics. “Triboepitaxy”, the fundamental idea that could make this possible, is presented by the team in the journal “Physical Review Letters”.

Hydrogen has an important role to play in the energy transition. Science and industry are currently working on storage and transport systems for hydrogen. The basis for this is to precisely describe and assess the behavior of metallic materials, especially steels, when they are in contact with hydrogen. As part of the BMBF lead project H₂Mare, the Fraunhofer IWM will develop and evaluate criteria for assessing materials and components for so-called tubular storage systems in the joint project H₂Wind. The findings will contribute to the accident-proof and durable operation of a real storage infrastructure for hydrogen.

In combustion engines, in plain bearings and in aerospace: diamond-like carbon coatings (DLC) reduce friction and wear in frictional contacts. In most cases, the lubricants used in bearings and engines contain the additive zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate (ZDDP), which in turn protects steel surfaces against wear. Unfortunately, it can attack the DLC layer, leading to premature failure. Researchers at the Fraunhofer IWM have discovered how the antagonistic interaction between the two substances occurs. In the journal Nature Communications, they explain why DLC layers can also be too hard in combination with ZDDP.

In a collaborative effort to tackle the enormous challenge of building a common National Research Data Infrastructure NFDI, entire research areas across Germany are working together in subject-specific consortia. As one of ten consortia in the second round, NFDI-MatWerk is now receiving five years of funding for Materials Science and Engineering. The consortium consists of renowned research organizations, including 10 applicants and 15 associated partners and is represented by the speaker Prof. Dr. Chris Eberl from Fraunhofer Institute for Materials Mechanics. It focuses on the infrastructure development for a shared materials data space.

The greatest potential of digitalization in companies in which materials play a prominent role lies in the cross-process linking of materials data. This promises to shorten component development times, faster optimization of complex manufacturing processes and more reliable plant operation. The problem is the very heterogeneous nature of materials data, which makes linking within this data extremely complex. The research project MaterialDigital of the state of Baden-Württemberg under the leadership of the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg has now made great progress in structuring materials data into a continuous data space.

Regeneratively produced hydrogen is an ideal energy carrier, which will be used in future applications as fuel cells and in cars; it will supplement natural gas as an energy source. But atomic hydrogen often induces brittle behavior in metals at high temperatures. Lukas Gröner of the Fraunhofer IWM, MikroTribologie Centrum µTC, has now developed a robust coating that effectively protects steel from the penetration of hydrogen. The barrier effect of this so-called MAX-phase layer is 3500 times greater than that of untreated steel. He published his results in the journal materials (doi: 10.3390/ma13092085).

Diamond and diamond-like carbon (DLC) are used as extremely durable surface coatings in frictional contacts – from aerospace components to razors. They reduce friction and wear in bearings and valves by means of so-called passivation layers, which prevent other materials from bonding to the coating. Until now, it was unclear how these passivation layers should be designed to achieve minimal friction. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM, MicroTribology Centrum µTC, have now achieved a breakthrough in understanding the relationship between passivation and friction. The unexpected results have been published in the journal "ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces".