Microstructure development during the production and processing of metallic materials

Microstructure development during the manufacture and processing of metallic materials. This area of materials technology represents a central focus in the research area for materials technology. How does a material behave during its manufacture? How does the structure of the material change during processing? What influence does the structural change have on the mechanical-technological properties? Which process parameters and manufacturing routes, in combination with which chemical composition, lead to the desired property profile on the semi-finished and finished product? In numerous basic and application-oriented research projects with our research and company partners, current issues and future innovation potentials are researched.

heat treatment diagram

© E308, Dagmar Fischer

Heat treatment diagram

Computer simulation of precipitation formation and microstructure development

Since 1993, the research group has been working on developing the most modern simulation methods and applying them in the form of software within the research group, and also making them available to users outside the research group. The results of this work are documented in numerous basic-oriented contributions to the special literature. The software project itself can be found at www.matcalc.at, opens an external URL in a new window. A restricted version of MatCalc is also available for free download there. The main methods and mechanisms that are taken into account in the simulation approaches in MatCalc are diffusion processes, precipitation growth, nucleation theory, interactions between precipitates and microstructure development, multi-substance systems, etc.

 

Screenshot MatCalc Software

© E308, Ernst Kozeschnik

Screenshot of the the user interface of the MatCalc software

Relation between microstructure and material properties

The properties of a material are given by its internal structure, the texture or its microstructure. This can be determined using imaging and analytical methods, or it can be calculated using computer modeling and simulation. Important parameters of a microstructure are the grain size, the precipitation distribution and morphology, the dislocation density and substructure, as well as segregation or recrystallization effects. In this focus we deal with the relationship between the microstructure and the mechanical-technological properties and the possibilities of deriving the latter from given microstructure parameters.

Microalloyed steel after hot tensile test

© E308-03-01

Microalloyed steel after hot tensile test