The societal need to conserve raw materials and energy and reduce CO2 emissions calls for lighter and stronger metal components. The advantage of metals is their unique combination of plasticity (i.e. formability) and strength, which is governed by their complex structure. This structure is organized hierarchically on several length scales, from grains over domains to defects (dislocations). This complexity has led to the common theoretical framework not being physics, but an engineering science: metallurgy. As a result, phenomenological models prevail. So far, these have failed in a rather spectacular sense with respect to predicting how the structural self-organization takes place during deformation and how this leads to increased strength and affects failure and corrosion properties.
The biggest obstacle to advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying self-organization has been a lack of methods to visualize the dynamics of the structure under realistic conditions. Prior to the start of the proejct the PI developed a hard x-ray microscope for high-resolution 3D studies of mm thick samples at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, ESRF. Uniquely, this allows us to zoom into materials and map the interior structure during processing.
The overall objective of PMP is to use this new tool to unravel the science of how metals deform and become stronger. For the first time, we can directly see the processes involved. This will provide the answer to fundamental questions at the core of metal science. The aim is that the PMP data will not only guide theory, but allow for unprecedented testing of quantitative 3D models by direct comparison with 3D experiment at all relevant scales. Based on these results, we will construct a physically based, multiscale model of plasticity that can predict which patterns evolve when and where in the metal and what the associated strengthening is.
On a broader perspective, the consensus in the materials community is that “materials design in a computer” is the future. However this requires a new generation of materials models that can predict structural evolution during processing, at all scales. PMP introduces a new approach to performing materials science with the promise to facilitate the establishment of such physics based models.
