The Institute for Applied Materials - Mechanics of Materials and Interfaces (IAM-MMI) investigates all fundamental mechanisms of materials degradation and failure in structural and functional materials and material systems.

The reliability of such material systems is of major significance for the society concerning functional materials for energy conversion and storage as well as for information technology and requires state-of-the-art mechanical characterization and modelling. Materials of interest span from batteries beyond the Lithium era towards materials for fusion reactors on the one hand, and from advanced conductors to materials for sensors and actuators on the other hand.

We aim for a mechanism-based understanding of material degradation, which requires scale-bridging mechanical as well as microstructural characterization combined with advanced multi-physics modelling and data analysis. We also run KIT´s Fusion materials lab and, therefore, can handle and characterize radioactive and toxic materials.

 

 

Head

Prof. Dr. mont.

Christoph Kirchlechner

 

Tel.: +49 721 608-24815

christoph.kirchlechner∂kit.edu

   
Management

Dr. Johanna Lampert

 

Tel.: +49 721 608-23754

johanna.lampert∂kit.edu

   

Administration

 

Jana Herzog

 

Tel: +49 721 608-24816

jana herzog∂kit edu

News

Poster Prize DaluX. Fang
1st poster prize to Dalu

Chukwudalu (Dalu) Okafor was awarded the 1st prize in the Best Student Poster Presentation Award during the EMA 2025 (Electronic Materials and Applications, Denver, Colorado, USA).

The work Dalu presented is on point defects - dislocations interaction in functional oxides.

Congratulations, Dalu!

TRR 188
TRR 188 is funded for another 4 years

Since 2017, the TRR 188 has been working at the TU Dortmund University, the RWTH Aachen University, and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to gain a deeper understanding of forming induced damage processes. The aim is to predict damage quantitatively and influence it, for example, by changing the load path.

Further information on TRR 188 can be found here and at https://trr188.de/index.php/en/

NanosmartI. Westermann, KIT
Sustainable material cycle

In the newly launched EU project NANO-S-MART, researchers at the IAM-MMI are investigating the material cycle of steel production in order to minimize losses in our society's consumption of raw materials in the future with intelligent material design and closed material cycles.

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C. MattheckC. Mattheck
Distinguished Senior Fellow extended

The KIT Presidential Board has approved a further extension of Prof. Dr. Claus Mattheck's status as KIT Distinguished Senior Fellow until the end of 2028. With this special award, KIT honors outstanding personalities from science in order to preserve their experience and knowledge even after retirement.

Snow AwardX. Fang
Roland B. Snow Award

In October, Alexander Frisch, Oliver Preuß and Xufei Fang won the $1,500 Roland B. Snow Award as part of the annual ceramographic poster competition at MS&T24/ACerS (American Ceramic Society) in Pittsburgh (USA).

Alexander is a PhD student in the Dislocations in Ceramics group. He is working within the project MECERDIS on ductile oxides at room temperature and the effects of external fields on dislocation behavior in oxides. We would like to thank the ERC for funding his doctoral project.

Poster Prize DaluX. Fang
Poster Prize

Chukwudalu (Dalu) Okafor was awarded the 2nd poster prize at the ECI Conference on Nanomechanical Testing in Materials Research and Development IX (October 2024, Sicily, Italy) - THE nano-/micromechanics conference for the relevant community.

Dalu is pursuing his PhD in the group Dislocations in Ceramics and is working on point defects - dislocations interaction in oxides. Funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for his PhD project is gratefully acknowledged.

Eurofusion Logo
ERG to Maria Vrellou

Maria Vrellou was awarded the "2025 EUROfusion Bernard Bigot Researcher Grant" (ERG) in September. The EUROfusion consortium has awarded a total of sixteen such research grants to talented post-doctoral researchers across Europe. The ERG grants enable young scientists to develop innovative ideas and techniques to advance the EUROfusion roadmap for fusion energy.

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