MIMESIS · Mathematics and Materials Science for Steel Production and Manufacturing

Mathematics and Materials Science for Steel Production and Manufacturing

The last fifteen years have seen the development of ever more refined high-strength and multiphase steels with purpose designed chemical compositions allowing for significant weight reduction, e.g., in automotive industry. The production of these modern steel grades needs a precise process control, since there is only a narrow process window available in which the desired physical properties are defined. In combination with component walls getting thinner and thinner these new steels make also new demands on a more precise process control in metal manufacturing processes, such as welding and hardening. Improved and optimized process control requires quantitative mathematical modelling, simulation and optimization of the complex thermal cycles and thermal gradients experienced by the processed material. Such models require an understanding of the behaviour of the materials from a materials science and phase transformations perspective. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for companies to find graduates combining deep knowledge in materials science with expertise in mathematical modelling, simulation and optimization. Filling this gap has been the central goal of this EID. The consortium consisted of two steel-producing companies, SSAB Europe and Outokumpu Stainless, a steel manufacturer, EFD Induction, and two scientific partners, for materials science the University of Oulu and for applied mathematics the Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics. The Berlin Mathematical School acted as a further non-beneficiary partner providing additional training opportunities for the MIMESIS ESRs. A specific feature of the MIMESIS training concept has been to exploit its interdisciplinarity on the interface of applied mathematics and materials science. To this end, all students spent 3 months from May to July 2016 in Berlin for a course on “Finite Element simulation of multi-field problems”. For a second training block on “Physical metallurgy of metals and steels”, all students stayed at the University of Oulu from November 2016 to January 2017. Both courses were complemented with transferable skills trainings on time and self-management, presentation training and on “Scientific research and Ethics”. In the second half of the project there has been a stronger emphasis on hands-on industrial trainings. The research focussed on three major topics - induction heating, phase transformations in steel alloys, and ladle stirring and has led two seven PhD theses and more than 30 research publications.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз