Chair for Materials Science and Engineering
Institute for Materials • Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Functional Materials
Our functional materials group works on metallic shape memory alloys (SMA) and shape memory polymers. The SMA research builds on the results obtained in the collaborative research center SFB 459 (2000-2011). In the reporting period, our Chair had the possibility to participate in a research group on high-temperature SMAs funded by our national grant agency DFG. With our SMA activities, we also participated in two DFG-funded priority programs, Ferroic Cooling (where we considered material aspects associated with a SMA fridge) and high-entropy alloys (where we studied SMAs with complex compositions).
The shape memory polymer work was embedded into another DFG-funded priority program, which tackled thermal-mechancial-chemical interactions. There is a close collaboration between our group and our spin-off company Ingpuls that has developed into a successful shape memory company and enjoys a high profile in Germany.
