Project: BSc. Sandra Hernandez a postgraduate researcher in our group!
Space exploration require materials that can endure the harshest conditions mainly posed by highly-energetic proton irradiation from the Sun and its thermonuclear coronal instabilities. Investigating radiation effects in extraterrestrial environments and understanding materials’ behavior under non-equilibrium thermodynamics conditions have been integral parts of our research. We are passionate about unraveling the mysteries of space materials’ degradation within the space environment surround Earth.
Ref.: P.D. Willenshofer, M.A. Tunes et al. Materials Research Letters, 11(12), 1063–1072, 2023 (doi.org/10.1080/21663831.2023.2281589).
A major challenge for lightweight ultrafine-grained aluminium alloys to be applied in harsh environments is their microstructural stability under heating and irradiation. During his doctoral studies, Patrick Willenshofer discovered that aluminium crossover alloys are particularly stable under extreme environments due to the advent of both trans- and intra-granular precipitation of a very special hardening phase known as T-phase.