Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio 375: Multifunctional High-Performance Components made of hybrid porous materials

The central scientific objective of CRC/TRR 375 is to establish a new class of components: multifunctional high-performance components made of hybrid porous (HyPo) materials. HyPo-components are made by combining different materials featuring a locally varying density, e.g. in the form of pores and fulfil more than one function at a time. Their functional performance is closely linked to the material or material state and the resulting material properties. Due to their high technical relevance and good recyclability, the CRC/TRR will focus its research on metallic materials.
By locally varying the density, HyPo-components achieve significant weight reduction in low-stress areas, resulting in improved efficiency, particularly under dynamic stress. The hybrid material approach offers additional benefits by allowing the selective adjustment of material-specific properties. For example, high-stress areas can be reinforced for increased strength, while areas subject to thermal stress can have enhanced temperature resistance.
The CRC/TRR extends these approaches to include multifunctionality, so that HyPo-components achieve a significant performance increase compared to conventional approaches. For example, the integration of areas with variable magnetic properties opens possibilities for creating sensor systems within the components themselves. In summary, a comprehensive understanding of HyPo-structures expands component design by considering density variability, material properties, and multifunctionality, leading to a new level of application-optimised product design.
The underlying scientific questions are highly interdisciplinary. To gain comprehensive knowledge regarding the manufacturing, design and characterisation of HyPo-components, close cooperation between the disciplines manufacturing technology, materials technology, metrology, mechanics, design and computer science is required. Only through this interdisciplinary cooperation can a fundamental understanding of the characteristics and correlations between manufacturing parameters and material properties be achieved.
In the future, multifunctional hybrid and porous high-performance components are expected to make significant contributions to resource-saving and environmentally friendly products and manufacturing processes. They will enhance the energy efficiency and performance of a wide range of products, ensure product safety through component-integrated sensor technology, and facilitate data acquisition in the context of digitisation.