Objectives

• The aim of RA3 is to establish fundamental knowledge and understanding of materials with recycled content and/or materials for new processes and applications (e.g. rapid solidification, additive manufacturing and screw extrusion).
• To accelerate the design of new materials and alloys and/or industrial processes relationships will be systematized using modelling tools in collaboration with other RA combined with experimental work.

Approach and methodology

• Material preparation including powder, and mixtures
• Processing methods including casting, additive manufacturing and screw extrusion
• Heat treatment and post-processing of obtained materials
• Microstructure studies of resulting microstructure and properties
• Mathematical modeling of processing methods, microstructure formation and verification

Challenges

Solid-state mixing by screw extrusion

Preparation of novel materials with superior properties by solid state mixing of granular solid feedstocks, for example metal scraps, strips produced rapid solidification and powders of different materials by using novel Screw extrusion (SE) process will be done. The mechanism for SE synthesis and the final structure and properties will be studied.

Compensation metallurgy and alloy design

Enable the development of materials with a higher recycled content by understanding of the relationships between alloy composition (with recycled content) and solidification, heat treatment and mechanical processing. A focus will be put on the influence of impurity elements on nucleation, growth and morphology of grains and intermetallic particles, precipitation behavior of secondary phases, grain boundary segregation and processability of the alloys, etc.

Powder materials and rapid solidification

Develop powder-based materials with improved properties based on rapid solidification technology. Expanding the range of AM materials is targeted by tailoring the microstructure through-process control (solidification conditions), mixing powders with inoculants (to favor equiaxed instead of columnar structures) and additives (e.g. nanoparticles for improved properties), and mixtures of elemental powders.

Tailored properties through post-processing

Microstructure tailoring during heat treatments of Al (e.g. AM and rapid solidification or with recycled content) products to compensate for unwanted detrimental secondary phases and precipitates (e.g. Fe containing phases due to recycled content) and to promote desired phase transformations (in steels) is the target of this activity.