Materials for extreme conditions

Materials for energy conversion systems have to operate under extremely complicated loads and operating conditions including extremely high temperatures, and thermal loads, environmentally harsh and corrosive conditions. Examples for such conditions are materials for the first wall of future fusion devices, concentrated solar power or advanced das turbine materials for future gas turbines with high load flexibility and start up capabilities.

For all these applications, high safety and security requirements and lifetimes are required which typically cover a time span of 20 to 50 years. Thus, with a direct impact on reliability and cost-efficiency of energy technologies, stability and lifetime are essential properties for materials used in a great variety of energy applications.
Damage to those materials occurs primarily through the formation of a network of cracks and crack growth. Simulating these processes using numerical methods requires reliable knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of the investigated materials up to the temperature approaching 3000°C.