Mechanical behaviour

Our research group seeks to fundamentally understand the mechanical behaviour of various complex, heterogeneous materials through meso, micro and nanoscale characterization of deformation and failure mechanisms.

The research primarily focusses on:

  • Advance understanding and control of mechanical material behaviour
  • Relating mechanical behaviour to process and material microstructure
  • Prediction of mechanical behaviour from knowledge of the microstructure
  • Development of multifunctional materials through microstructural design and functional grading

The research aims to improve the prediction and application of mechanical behaviour by developing new experimental techniques, based on a fundamental understanding of the metallurgical and physical processes involved. The study also provide practical knowledge to industry and enhance primary understanding of material behaviour over a wide range of length scales.

Research

The theme addresses two main research topics:

  • Fracture and fatigue of complex engineering materials, which is aimed at identifying fundamental mechanisms of fracture (especially in materials under extreme conditions), understanding damage evolution and providing a link to the microstructures.
  • Mechanical behavior and multifunctional design of additively manufactured (AM) materials, which is focused on understanding and control of microstructure and mechanical behavior of additively manufactured materials, as well as development of multifunctional materials through microstructural design and functional grading enabled by 3D-printing processes.

Lab facilities

The equipment available in the Mechanical Behaviour Labs:

  1. High force Dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA)
  2. Thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF)
  3. Rotational bending fatigue
  4. Instrumented Charpy
  5. Low and high temperature tensile and fatigue testing
  6. Hardness machines
  7. Digital image correlation (DIC)
  8. In-situ mechanical testing under hydrogen and corrosion environment
  9. Various Furnaces
  10. Wear resistant setup
  11. Potential drop (DCPD)
  12. Potentiostat
  13. Sand blasting for surface treatment
  14. 3D-printers
Rotational bending
Tensile and fatigue setups
Instrumented Charpy

People

Scientific staff

PhD candidates

Postdocs and researchers

Technical staff