Your one-stop-shop

The Materials Research Cluster has core competences over the full supply chain: from production to application.  The Materials Research Cluster partners provide support and advice from small-scale lab trials to industrial implementation, to component durability testing.

  • Metal process technology & batch production
    • Flexible production of tailor-made alloys in small batches by vacuum or air melting & casting, computer controlled sheet and plate rolling & cooling and multipurpose annealing
    • Process optimisation using unique pilot continuous hot rolling mill
    • Cooling & heating technology
  • Alloys and coating development
    • Determine optimal process window for alloy processing
    • Fine-tune annealing cycles
    • Formulate coatings with enhanced properties
  • High-throughput research platforms
    • Quick screening of formulations, depositions or coatings
    • Speeding up your discovery research with a factor >>10
  • In-depth microstructural characterisation
    • Long standing expertise in metallographic preparation, using different embedding materials, polishing agents and etching techniques, followed by grain size determination and multi-phase fraction quantification
    • Advanced physical and mechanical material characterisation ranging from small scale standardised tests to heavy gauge samples and more complex combined analysis set-up
  • From virtual engineering to in-use guidelines
    • Design and process optimisation through numerical simulation, validated by real life testing
    • Technical assistance and recommendations for forming, cutting, punching, welding, adhesive bonding, galvanising, painting, enamelling, etc.
    • Predictive models
  • Small to large scale testing
    • Unique range of equipment for metal processing, materials testing, materials characterisation, welding & joining, etc.
    • Standard as well as customised test set-ups for large component testing
    • Dedicated hydrogen lab to study hydrogen behaviour in metals
  • Durability of materials and structures
    • Expertise in the fields of wear, creep, fatigue, corrosion and coupled phenomena
    • Failure analysis of materials and components