- Ruhr-Universität Bochum

SX represent key materials for turbine blades in modern gas turbines for aero engines and power plants. International mobility and global energy supply rely on SX. Improvements in efficiency and emissions demand new concepts in the areas of (i) basic understanding of all aspects of alloy design and performance, (ii) continuous improvement and innovation of processing technologies, (iii) scale bridging characterization of nano-/microstructures and properties, (iv) scale bridging materials modelling and (v) efficient handling of research data. The research activities of SFB/TR 103 focus on two central questions: What is the role of large and small-scale microstructural heterogeneities (large-scale heterogeneity: dendrites and interdendritic regions, small-scale heterogeneity: γ/γ’-microstructure)? How do alloy elements (especially: d-shell elements like Re, W ,...) affect microstructure, microstructural evolution and properties? From a fundamental point of view it is important to understand how these parameters affect thermodynamic equilibria, the evolution of microstructure during processing and high temperature exposure and high temperature strength. Modern alloy design strives for better performance in terms of most efficient use of fossil resources. It must also respect the limited availability of strategic elements (e.g. less Re, more W, Mo and others). In addition to Ni-base superalloys, an effort is made to explore the high temperature properties of new Co-based single crystal superalloys with γ/γ’-microstructures.

In SFB/Transregio 103, the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) and the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) join forces and collaborate with the MPIE, Düsseldorf, the DLR, Köln and the FZ Jülich. Different areas of expertise, including materials science and engineering, solid state physics and chemistry, scale bridging materials modeling and processing and manufacturing technology are in close scientific contact. Research in the second third funding period of SFB/TR 103 will tackle open questions related to processing of superalloy single crystals, to the stability of microstructures at high temperatures and to elementary deformation and damage mechanisms. A total of 22 scientific projects participate in SFB/TR 103, which are part of topical blocks but also participate in six scientific cross sectional groups (Figure 1). The Ruhr-University leads this activity and 11 projects from RUB participate in the program. In the present MRD newsletter, some of the SFB/TR 103 projects will briefly describe their projects and present a few research highlights.