Graduate School

MatCom-ComMat

Materials Compounds from Composite Materials for applications under extreme conditions

Within the framework of the Research Training Group of the TU Darmstadt and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), which has been approved by the DFG, research is to be conducted into how global energy consumption can be significantly reduced. The research training group started on April 1, 2020, with a duration of four and a half years and runs under the title "Composite materials for applications under extreme conditions".

The focus of the new research network is on novel composite materials made of intermetallic alloys, which form thermomechanically stable phases and permit ultra-high operating temperatures (over 1300°C) in combustion engines and processes. These nanocomposites can withstand extreme environmental conditions (such as oxidation, corrosion, erosion) thanks to their “self-healing powers”. The special feature is that the alloys are additionally protected on the surface with polymer-derived, complex and thermally insulating ceramic systems.

Over all three institutions conduct research on these highly complicated material systems.

The focus of the research work at the TU Darmstadt is on coating materials.

In parallel, intermetallic substrate materials are being developed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Subsequently, both material systems, metal and ceramics, will be combined by developing suitable coating processes. In cooperation with the third partner in the graduate college, DECHEMA in Frankfurt am Main, the high-temperature corrosion of the material composites will be investigated under realistic conditions as they prevail in combustion engines.

The basic principles worked out in the research training group will contribute to the development of a completely new generation of “super materials”, which in future will make it possible to significantly reduce the fuel consumption and exhaust gases of combustion engines.

The research training group is coordinated at TU Darmstadt by Professor Ralf Riedel and at KIT by Professor Martin Heilmaier.