CD Laboratory for Knowledge-Based Design of Advanced Steels

This CD Laboratory researches the fundamentals for the production of advanced steels with a reduced CO2 footprint. It therefore makes a significant contribution to current key issues such as sustainability, energy saving and recycling.

Projects for the development of steels will already have an environmentally orientated objective in the near future. In order to reduce CO2 emissions, the steel industry is endeavouring to increase the proportion of scrap in its production. To achieve this, the manufacturing technology used must be switched from the blast furnace route to electric arc furnaces. However, the increased use of scrap increases the amount of unwanted by-elements and trace elements.

It is important to know the quantity and chemical composition of these trace elements and subsequently to determine their influence on the nano- and microstructure, the mechanical properties and the processability of the steel. A precise understanding of these parameters is a prerequisite for the development of steels with a lower carbon footprint and is therefore the main research focus of this CD Laboratory.

The research approach comprises experimental methods paired with simulations and calculations. Cross-scale methods are used, starting from the atomic level up to the application of components. The detailed characterisation of impurities using spectroscopic and tomographic analysis methods contributes to the understanding of materials at the atomic level. Time-consuming and cost-intensive experimental methods are supported by computer-aided materials science, such as ab initio calculations, in order to minimise costs. How the increased content of accompanying and trace elements affects the stability, formation and conversion of phases and precipitates is investigated within the framework of so-called CALPHAD calculations (CALculation of PHAse Diagrams). The computer-aided calculations and models are in turn validated by comprehensive experimental investigations of the microstructure actually formed in the steel and the resulting structure-property relationships.

To summarise, this CD Laboratory enables research at the atomic level through to the finished steel workpiece and implements validation between experiments and calculations at all levels. This approach enables the knowledge-based development of high-performance steels produced with low CO2 emissions. It also paves the way for the emerging field of virtual material design.