EUROPEAN WHITE BOOK

MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT FÜR METALLFORSCHUNG STUTTGART26(e) Mechanical and functional propertiesA strong overlap should be created between interface andplasticity projects. In the field of plasticity the followingareas of fundamental interest were identified:1. collective behaviour of structural defects2. scale-bridging plasticity and failure concepts inmaterials simulation and experiment3. elasticity and plasticity in confined, layered, graded,and nanoscaled materials4. effects of solute elements on work hardening5. anisotropic elasto-plasticity of polycrystalline matter6. internal stresses in conjunction with plasticity andtransformation7. void nucleation and coalescence8. mechanics of entangled and percolated systems:metal wool, cellular solids, dendritic structures, scaleand gradient effects in plasticity9. textures at the micro- and nanoscale: coupled stressand texture determination10. interaction between environment and plasticity11. high strength - high conducting composites12. grain cluster mechanics13. mechanical, transformation, and precipitation fundamentalsof novel lightweight Mg, Be, Al, Fe alloys andintermetallic-based lightweight alloys under complexloadings14. mechanical properties of alloys and intermetallicsdoped with rare earth elements15. integrated structure and materials optimization:integrating design and materials properties16. mechanical-functional materials properties as inverseproblems, i.e. back-extrapolation of optimum thermodynamicsand microstructures from desired finalproperties.1.2. Advanced Ceramic Materials: Basic Research ViewpointF. Aldinger | Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, 70569 Stuttgart, GermanyJ.F. Baumard | ENSCI, 87065 Limoges, FranceContributor:R. Waser (Institut für Festkörperforschung, ForschungszentrumJülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany).1.2.1. IntroductionCeramics are a class of materials broadly defined as “inorganic,nonmetallic solids”. They have the largest range offunctions of all known materials. Despite the already existingvariety of compounds, the number of processingtechniques, and the known diversity of properties and applicationsof the materials, all advanced countries sharethe need for basic research in several areas: finding newcompounds with improved specific properties, increasingknowledge of fabrication processes for economical and ecologicalceramic parts production, miniaturization and integrationof ceramics with similar or dissimilar materials, andbuilding a better understanding of materials behaviourthrough computational modelling.1.2.2. State of the ArtThe last decades have seen the development of the enormouspotential of functional ceramics based on uniquedielectric, ferroelectric, piezoelectric, pyroelectric, ferromagnetic,magnetoresistive, ionical, electronical, superconducting,electrooptical, and gas-sensing properties.Such properties now constitute the basis of a broad fieldof applications (Fig. 1.5). Scientific advances concerningmany ceramic materials have enabled technological breakthroughsof truly global proportions.Similar scientific developments also have taken place instructural ceramics. Thermal, chemical, and mechanicalstability of many oxide and nonoxide compounds laid thefoundation for improved processing, which led to an improvedlevel of microstructure design and defect control.This in turn resulted in never-before-seen improvementsin mechanical performance and in the reliability of theproperties of components and devices.In addition, superior combinations of thermal, insulating,and mechanical properties have become the basis of hugeapplications in the packaging of microelectronics and