Multi-dimensional and scale-bridging material science

• Subject Area: Lightweight Construction, Textile Technology ; Construction Material Sciences, Chemistry, Building Physics ; Structural Engineering, Building Informatics and Construction Operation ; Plastics Engineering ; Mechanical Properties of Metallic Materials and their Microstructural Origins ; Metallurgical, Thermal and Thermomechanical Treatment of Materials ; Polymeric and Biogenic Materials and Derived Composites ; Primary Shaping and Reshaping Technology, Additive Manufacturing
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 498129749

Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK Leipzig) has a research focus on material science for many years. In the past, the development of innovative building materials and materials for engineering applications, for example in printing and packaging technology, were major research fields. In recent years, HTWK has further strengthened material science by targeted appointments and the foundation of the Competence Center for Material Science. Nowadays, materials-related research topics are anchored in a wide range of faculties. Those measures have enabled numerous research projects to be initiated, which are primarily aimed at developing sustainable, multifunctional high-performance materials. These include European projects such as iClimaBuilt (Horizon 2020) or the large BMBF research project "C³ - Carbon Concrete Composites". Those developments have led to the availability of a broadly diversified equipment infrastructure in material science that enables competitive materials-oriented research. However, the broader spectrum of materials and the simultaneous increase in development goals are accompanied by higher demands on the equipment infrastructure.The competitiveness of the HTWK for knowledge-oriented research is therefore to be specifically strengthened by applying for a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a computer tomograph (CT). Both devices complement the existing spectrum of methods and enable cross-scale, multi-dimensional material characterization for numerous material classes. The SEM is used to study the interactions between microstructure and the technically relevant properties of building materials, metals and composites. The CT enables three-dimensional microstructure analyses with resolutions down to the sub-micro range and is equipped with two in-situ testing devices. In civil engineering, projects on mineral-bonded building materials, carbon-reinforced concrete, and sandwich materials for nearly zero emission buildings will be strengthened by SEM and CT analyses. The large-scale equipment will be used to investigate microstructure-based material properties such as the durability. In the field of metallic materials, the interaction between microstructure, heat treatment, processing and corrosion resistance is investigated for stainless steels. A SEM-based high-resolution microstructural characterization is performed to describe the alloying element distribution in the microstructure with the aim of improving the corrosion resistance. In lightweight engineering, the process-structure-property relations of multifunctional lightweight materials such as structural batteries are analyzed using CT, in-situ CT and SEM. For consolidation, HTWK will significantly support the research-oriented expansion of the equipment by providing additional personnel and additional financial support as well as the necessary premises and conversion measures.

• DFG Programme: Major Instrumentation Initiatives
• Major Instrumentation: Micro Computertomograph für Materialforschung ; Rasterelektronenmikroskop
• Instrumentation Group: 4070 Spezielle Röntgengeräte für Materialanalyse, Strukturforschung und Werkstoff-Bestrahlung ; 5120 Rasterelektronenmikroskope (REM)
• Applicant Institution: Hochschule für Technik, Wirtschaft und Kultur Leipzig
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. Robert Böhm
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr.-Ing. Klaus Holschemacher; Professor Dr.-Ing. Paul Rosemann; Professor Dr.-Ing. Christian Wagner