Quality Assurance in Materials Processing

Deviations or irregularities in raw materials, starting materials, or semi-finished products — such as defects, contamination, fluctuating properties, or residual stresses — cannot be completely ruled out. Strategies are needed to identify, evaluate, and ultimately address these issues, as they have a direct impact on the microstructure during processing and, consequently, on the quality of the final products.

Examples of specific challenges we address in projects:

• Handling fluctuating materials quality
• Monitoring microstructure and phase composition
• Detection and classification of defects
• Measurement and control of residual stresses and texturing
• Reproducibility of mechanical properties (tensile strength, hardness, toughness)
• Traceability and documentation of batch and test data
• Prevention of contamination (oxides, foreign particles)
• Handling of recycled materials