The Christian Doppler Laboratory for Design of high-performance alloys by thermomechanical processing is active since 1^st of May 2017 under the leadership of Cecilia Poletti. The group at IMAT is formed by Ricardo Buzolin (deputy head), Kasyap Pradeep and René Wang (PhD candidates), Leander Herbitschek (technician) and Manuela Prader (administration). The company partners are voestalpine and Nemak Linz GmbH. The CD Laboratory consists of 3 modules focused on the optimization of thermomechanical processes for high performance alloys.

The motivation behind our CD-Laboratory is given by the complex physical phenomena involved in the microstructural evolution occurring during industrial thermomechanical processes. Our main objectives are to explain and model the microstructure evolution of non-ferrous materials during thermomechanical processing routes, in order to design materials with high performance during service. We understand that both the chemical composition and the thermomechanical treatments are the key to controlling the microstructure of these materials and with this, their performance and durability at service conditions. On the other hand, when damage and flow localization take place, the desired properties of the final product cannot be reached. Therefore, the identification of processing parameters that provoke damage must be recognized and avoided.

With this in mind, we apply a combination of methodologies (as shown in Figure 1) to obtain description and explanation of the physical phenomena involved in the microstructural and properties changes.

Our scientific goals for the next years are:
1. To unify hot working, dislocation creep and relaxation phenomena in one simple physical based model without losing accuracy and prediction potential.
2. To use and design experimental methods and data analysis and experiments to simulate industrial processes, as well as to understand isolated physical phenomena.
3. To account for heterogeneities in a final or intermediate product such as grain size, dislocation densities and precipitates.

Our large scientific network, the excellent environment at IMAT and TU Graz, and our own experience will support our studies. We expect years of interesting work and are confident to gain new knowledge on this topic.

Cecilia Poletti