Light metals

An efficient use of resources demands the development of increasingly strong and tough metals with excellent specific mechanical properties that can meet the stringent structural demands of current industrial applications while not compromising tomorrow´s supply of raw materials and, simultaneously, reducing future waste.

Magnesium alloys

Magnesium´s low density (1.7 g/cm³) is particularly attractive to design engineers aiming to develop greener vehicles with reduced weight and limited fuel consumption. A significant amount of our research activities are focused on understanding macro and microplasticity of magnesium (Mg) alloys at a wide range of temperatures and strain rates, with the goal of deriving guidelines for the design of stronger and tougher alloys that can retain acceptable mechanical properties at relatively high temperatures.

_{Shearing of precipitates by basal dislocations in a Mg alloy}

(More details can be found @ Cepeda-Jiménez et al., Acta materialia 2018).

Beta titanium alloys

The aim of this work is to investigate the combined effect of beta-stabilizers on the mechanical properties and the slip activity of selected systems of quaternary beta titanium alloys. With that purpose, gradient arrays of compositions of Ti-Al-Mo-Cr and Ti-Al-Mo-V alloys were fabricated using the diffusion multiple approach. The spectra of compositions generated at the interdiffusion areas were then correlated to their micromechanical behavior. Care was exercised to avoid size effects while simultaneously capturing the composition effects.

Micromechanical testing at selected compositions within the interdiffusion region of a diffusion multiple

(More details can be found @ Wang et al., Materials & Design 2018).

We acknowledge funding from the Madrid region under programme S2013/MIT-2775 (DIMMAT).