The HexaGB project focuses on the investigation of metallic microstructures with hexagonal close-packed (hcp) lattices. Specifically, the project will focus on polycrystalline microstructures and address the two fundamental questions:

• How are grain boundaries (GBs) selected during polycrystalline growth from the liquid?

• How do these GBs behave upon mechanical loading in the solid state?

We will gain a fundamental understanding of underlying mechanisms at the scale of individual grain boundaries, by combining state-of-the-art simulations and experiments. We will then leverage that knowledge to build computationally-efficient simulation tools to integrate microstructural considerations and interpret simulations at the scale of entire components.