MA.D.AM
A Consolidator Grant Project funded by the European Research Council
Summary
With aerospace technologies gaining increased attention due to a continuously growing interest in space, the drive towards innovation in sectors associated with aerospace is now in high gear. Additionally, there is a growing demand in value-added materials for additive manufacturing that promote superior part properties, not achievable by conventional fusion-based routes. The EU-funded MA.D.AM project will address this demand by covering the whole process chain from material development to layer deposition via solid-state processes for the selected use-case of novel Al-Cu-Li alloys. The project will apply a systematic multidisciplinary strategy, including experimental and numerical approaches and combining them via machine learning.

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101001567)
Objectives
The MA.D.AM project addresses the strong need of wire-based additive manufacturing (AM) for customized value-added metallic materials that are not established yet. The project aims at establishing novel scientific knowledge for the fabrication of novel wire materials and AM parts with hitherto not reached properties, based on the application of high-strength Al-Cu-Li alloys, as cutting-edge candidates for AM in aerospace applications. For this purpose, innovative solid-state materials development and AM processes are utilized to obtain alloys beyond the known thermodynamic borders. The solid-state Friction Extrusion process allows generating phases under non-equilibrium conditions, leading to so far unexplored microstructural states, enabling to produce novel high-performance wire material with tailored properties. To avoid microstructural deterioration and preserve or even improve the beneficial properties of the designed wires, the Solid State Layer Deposition process is employed. The overarching objective of MA.D.AM is to establish the real-world process chain paired with numerical approaches, leading to a digital twin to achieve a hitherto unavailable decryption of the composition-process-microstructure-property relationships for solid-state materials development and AM. To achieve this objective, a systematic multidisciplinary approach based on the combination of sophisticated physical modelling concepts, advanced experimental approaches including characterization techniques and machine learning is pursued. The selected modelling approaches along computational thermodynamics, microstructure and process modelling, together with special-designed (in situ) experiments will establish a clear link between process characteristics and evolution mechanisms such as phase formation and recrystallization kinetics. The digital twin will be built via a novel hybrid modelling strategy based on experimental and numerical data developed on the concepts of machine learning.
Work Packages
This WP provides the experimental basis to establish a fundamental understanding of the materials development process via the friction extrusion process. Producibility and processability of novel wire materials will be demonstrated. Fundamental insight into material flow during the process will be obtained.
Team
- Benjamin Klusemann (PI) Benjamin Klusemann is professor at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg as well as the head of the department “Solid State Materials Processing” at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. He studied mechanical engineering followed by a PhD in computational mechanics at TU Dortmund. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at RWTH Aachen University and the California Institute of Technology and as senior engineer at TU Hamburg. His current research interests include solid state processes, machine learning, micromechanics and process simulations, all with particular focus on experimental-modeling correlations. He received a number of awards, including the Richard-von-Mises-Prize of GAMM 2017 and the ESAFORM scientific award 2019.
- Dr. Uceu Suhuddin (Group Leader Friction Extrusion) Uceu Suhuddin joined Helmholtz Zentrum Hereon after completing his PhD in Friction Stir Welding at Tohoku University, Japan. He started his career as a postdoctoral researcher and became group leader of Friction Spot Welding group in Solid State Joining Processes Department. His research activities are focused on friction based welding and processing of lightweight alloys (mainly aluminum and magnesium) and microstructure-properties understanding. Currently, Uceu Suhuddin is a scientist and group leader of Friction Extrusion and Consolidation group in Solid State Materials Processing Department at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon
- Lars Rath (Friction Extrusion) Lars Rath is doctoral student at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg and the department "Solid State Materials Processing" at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. He studied mechanical engineering and specialized in product development, materials and production at TU Hamburg. His current research in process development of solid state processes focuses on friction extrusion of aluminum and magnesium alloys.
Publications:
https://www.scientific.net/KEM.926.471
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12289-022-01670-y - Chang Yin-Cheng Chan (Friction Extrusion) Chang Yin-Cheng Chan is a PhD student at the Solid State Materials Processing Department at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. He studied Interdisciplinary Program of Sciences in Program of Physics and in Program of Materials Science for Bachelor at the National Tsing Hua University, followed by a Master in Materials Science at the University of Augsburg. His current research interest is solid state processes development with focus on microstructure evolution and phase transformation.
- Dr. Rupesh Chafle (microstructure modelling) Rupesh Chafle is a scientist at the department of “Solid State Materials Processing” at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. He studied Metallurgical and Materials Engineering for Bachelors at the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur, followed by a Masters and PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. His research areas involve solid-state phase transformations, microstructure simulation in technologically significant materials (e.g. Ni-based superalloys, Al-Cu alloys), phase-field modelling under external magnetic and elastic fields, mesh-free process simulations and ICME approach for additive manufacturing.
- Ali Safi (microstructure modelling) Ali Safi is a PhD student at the department of Solid State Materials Processing of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. He studied materials science and engineering at the RWTH Aachen University and the Imperial College London. His current research interests include computational materials science and mechanics with focus on crystal plasticity and phase-field methods.
- Zina Kallien (friction surfacing) Zina Kallien is a doctoral student at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg and the department of “Solid State Materials Processing” at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. She studied engineering sciences with focus on production engineering at Leuphana University of Lüneburg. Her current research activities concentrate on the experimental and numerical investigation of the friction surfacing process for aluminium alloys also with regard to additive manufacturing applications.
Publications:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127522004087?via%3Dihub
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0257897222002717?via%3Dihub
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921509323002964
https://www.scientific.net/KEM.926.187 - Elizabeth Mathews (microstructure modelling) Elizabeth Mathew is a PhD student at the department of “Solid State Material Processing” at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. She earned her bachelor's degree in metallurgical engineering from B.I.T Sindri in Dhanbad, India. Later she was employed as an assistant manager at Bharat Aluminium Company in India for two years. Following this work experience, she completed her master's degree in material science and simulation at the Interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Material Simulation, Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, Germany. Her current research interest includes thermodynamic modelling and DFT calculations.
Contact

Head of Department
Institute of Materials Mechanics / Solid State Materials Processing (WMP)
Phone: +49 (0)4152 87-2552
Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon
Max-Planck Straße 1
21502 Geesthacht

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101001567)