QUANTIFY is an international network of 8 organisations, working on a joint research programme in the field of Solid Mechanics. The 8 organisations (4 EU beneficiaries and 4 US partner organisations) have exchanged and share skills and knowledge with the view to understand and model the effect of anisotropy in the dynamic mechanical failure of lightweight metallic materials used in the transportation and civilian-security industries. Breakthroughs in this field will allow lightweight metals fabricated with microstructure optimization techniques and additive manufacturing to replace steel and heavy alloys in manufacturing high structural responsibility components for automobiles, ships, aircrafts and civil infrastructures, all sectors of crucial importance for the European economy and society. During the last decade, large efforts have been directed in the transportation and civilian-security industries toward the development of aluminium, magnesium and titanium alloys for high-performance applications in which structural elements are usually subjected to large deformations and high strain rates. Enhanced by the increasing restrictions in fuel consumption and the encouragement for emissions reduction, there is an emerging trend to replace the conventional Fe-based materials by these non-ferrous alloys in the construction of passive safety structures for automobiles, ships and aircrafts. Lightweight alloys are now being used in the design of protective structures because of their improved strength-to-weight ratio, which make them attractive for the construction of portable shields and fortifications. Protection structures that can be transported, deployed/mountable and retracted/detachable in short periods of time are required for an effective protection of critical infrastructures (like bridges, government buildings and ports) against events such as explosions, attacks and natural disasters. Unfortunately, the strong anisotropy of aluminium, magnesium and titanium alloys is usually considered as a weakness for their application in the aforementioned industrial sectors. The anisotropy of these alloys, which usually comes from their microstructure and/or manufacturing process, is known to have great influence on their failure strength and strain, and therefore on their energy absorption capacity under extreme loading. The specific mechanisms which determine such influence are largely unknown and poorly understood, which impedes to model and predict accurately the limits of the energy absorption capacity of this type of materials. QUANTIFY was the first attempt ever to develop an international, integral, multiscale and multidisciplinary approach to bring to light, understand and model the effect of anisotropy in the dynamic mechanical failure of lightweight metallic materials used in the transportation and civilian-security industries.
