Modern machining tools such as crowns for rock drills, as well as safety components, are subjected to high loads during operation. These include, for example, side members in the front end of vehicles, which must also be able to withstand a frontal impact. The material in such components is exposed to different temperatures, pressures, stress velocities and corrosive influences. All of this influences the material properties. However, in order to push the limits of load-bearing capacity, the mechanisms of material failure in different situations must be understood. To this end, the Institute of Materials Engineering conducts research in the laboratory and in close cooperation with practical partners such as the company Walzengießerei Coswig GmbH. There, in collaboration with institutions such as the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, the load-bearing capacity and durability of the cast materials used for wind power components are tested.

Wind turbine manufacturers also utilise research results to improve the performance and service life of the materials used. The researchers work with high-speed photography, strain gauges, analysing acoustic emissions and scanning electron microscopy for their material investigations. This makes it possible to record both superficial effects and processes inside the component during fracture. A targeted combination of several complementary methods is used to analyse the microscopic processes, which take less than a millisecond but nevertheless determine the entire component behaviour.

The knowledge gained in this way allows existing components to be evaluated differently and high-performance materials to be created for new components and structures. Not only cast materials are being analysed, but also