ZPT Project S2

S2 - Evaluation of critical defects and structures by in-situ and high resolution methods

In general, heterogeneities strongly determine the properties of a material, independently of the material itself. However, in many cases, the main question is under which conditions the heterogeneity becomes critical. In order to answer this question, different aspects such as the intrinsic heterogeneous structure of a material, its geometry, loading and environment have to be considered.
 
 
With modern NDT methods, shape, dimension and spatial distribution of a material can be obtained. Yet, this is only the first step for the prediction of failure probabilities on the basis of conventional and/or fracture mechanics concepts. Characterizing and estimating the micro-mechanisms of failure is the next and crucial step. The strategic project S2 tackles this mission of identifying and analyzing critical defects in materials through high-resolution structure-analysis and evaluating the defect with in-situ stress-tests. Main goal is to combine advanced NDT methods acting on different length scales for monitoring damage evolution from its initiation to the appearance of a crack. Main objectives are thus:
 
  • Identifying and quantitatively describing the spatial structure of the inner component architecture;
  • Identifying the reaction of the inner component architecture to mechanical and thermal stress (damaging);
  • Evaluating the effects on further manufacturing steps and application properties;
  • Verifying existing hypothesis on the cause for critical defects and its effects.