Scientific Advisory Board - Erich Schmid Institute

ERICH SCHMID INSTITUTE OF MATERIALS SCIENCE
Part I: The Institute
Mission Statement
the erich Schmid institute of materials Science (eSi) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
performs cutting-edge basic research setting the basis for new material concepts.
the technological progress in our society with its development into “smaller”, “lighter”, and
“faster” requires more and more sustainable materials and components with specific electronic,
magnetic or mechanical properties. Understanding the mechanical properties of materials
is a prerequisite for success, since their lifetime is frequently limited by the nucleation and
growth of defects during production and service. the material is successively damaged until
the component fails or cannot fulfill a necessary function.
the institute’s scientific mission is to develop design concepts for damage resistant materials
with a focus on understanding and predicting the microstructure-property relations at all length
scales, with a special emphasis on mechanical properties. in this innovative research field, eSi
is pushing the frontiers by combining advanced experimental and modeling techniques. this
is a huge challenge since the length scales involved span nearly 10 orders of magnitude, from
atomic structures to macroscopic devices and components. in the last years we have set the
foundation for developing into these directions by concentrating our research activities in five
interlinked areas:
i) Deformation, Fatigue, and Fracture
ii) Micro- and Nano-Mechanics
iii) Micro- and Nano-Structure Characterization
iv) Novel Bulk Nano-Materials by Severe Plastic Deformation
v) Complex Materials.
eSi has a long-standing history in area (i) with outstanding experimental and numerical activities
on plasticity and the prediction of failure of metallic materials, driving topics, such as localized
damage evolution and new concepts to improve ductility of inherently brittle materials. Area (i)
was then complemented by area (iii), and has been more recently further developed into areas
(ii) and (iv). new material classes and composites have been adopted into the research portfolio,
area (v). today, all areas focus on various aspects of the micro- and nano-scale, exploring even
atomic dimensions. the vision of our research is to understand the mechanical properties of
complex materials at all length scales, from macro to micro, to determine quantitative relations
for the prediction of the material behavior from their micro- and nanostructure, and to design
and create novel materials with highly improved properties.
the erich Schmid institute of materials Science has flourished since its foundation in 1971 to one
of the world’s leading institutes in research on mechanical properties, both in the development
of highly sophisticated experimental techniques and in establishing theoretical concepts for
deformation, fatigue and fracture of materials. eSi is enjoying a high international reputation,
benefits from its creative young scientists from all over the world, and is well connected with
leaders in science and industry.
Scientific RepoRt 2012 page 5