Neo-metallurgy : New alloys, new processes and new investigation techniques
The focus of this thematic area is the development of new alloys and processing routes for various applications, and the improvement of characterisation techniques.
Efficient development of new metallic alloys for structural or functional applications relies on the possibility of making combinatory experiments in a fast and efficient way. One way is to produce materials with composition gradients, with testing made afterwards at a very local scale (e.g. nano-indentation for mechanical properties, or local optical/ electrical measurements for functional properties). However, the question arises on the feasibility of up-scaling properties measured at a very local scale to properties of more bulk materials. This up-scaling will often lead to fundamental questions when the characteristic length scales associated with the phenomena involved become comparable to that of the specimen or of the measurement technique.
In order to industrially produce these new alloys, new processing routes are required. For example, new materials such as bulk metallic glasses, metallic foams, and metal matrix composites offers new and quite unique mechanical properties yet are difficult to fabricate in bulk. Laser welding of dissimilar materials is also of great interest for many industries from the watch or medical sectors to the automotive and aeronautic sectors. While the metallurgy of the base elements within an alloy may be well known, the combination of elements by metallurgical bonds requires a deep understanding of both thermodynamics and processing.
Finally, novel characterising techniques such as in situ X-ray radiography or tomography, neutron scattering, orientation imaging using EBSD combined with chemical analyses, nano-testing devices, etc., allow one to characterise accurately and in depth metallic alloys down to very low scale. While some of these techniques are relatively mature, others still require considerable effort to achieve a single result. In all cases, improvements in speed, accuracy, and resolution of these techniques will aid in developing new alloys and new processing routes.