Abstract:

Optimizing the performance of engineering alloys during manufacturing and service conditions requires a keen understanding of their microstructure evolution under applied temperature and load. It is thus a challenging task, because under the influence of an external load and/or temperature, the microstructure continuously changes. Insights can be obtained by conventional post-mortem analysis; though they may be time-consuming, barely representative of the microstructure state under such conditions; and usually suffer from local information not representative of the bulk material. Also, typical techniques for the investigation of phase transformation kinetics such as dilatometry do not directly provide specific information about the forming phases e.g., its crystal structure, volume fraction, defect density, grain size distribution, texture, among others.
In situ high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction (HEXRD) is a non-destructive technique well suited to continuously study the evolution of microstructural phases within the bulk with acquisitions times <1s i.e., avoiding a biased understanding of the phenomena involved. This seminar will include investigations based on the ability to study the evolution of the microstructure using in situ HEXRD. The results obtained, can reveal for instance the mechanisms of phase transformation and mechanical behaviour, allow for the optimization of the heat treatment and chemical composition, while represent a valuable input for developing simulation tools that predict and guide the performance optimization of engineering alloys.

Bio:

Pere Barriobero Vila is currently appointed Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) in Barcelona. His research activities include metal additive manufacturing, structure-property relationships of engineering alloys and advanced operando material characterization using large-scale facilities. He earned a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the Technical University of Vienna (TU Wien), Austria. His doctoral thesis, which received the Peter Emil Varga Prize, focused on optimized processing routes for the sustainable metallurgy of light alloys, applying state-of-the-art techniques available at synchrotron facilities. During his postdoctoral studies at TU Wien and later in Cologne as a scientist at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), his work focused on developing alloys suitable for additive manufacturing and was awarded with the DLR Science Award.