THE PROJECT
Project overview
Advanced materials such as titanium alloys are considered as technological key enablers in societal challenges and a key factor in technological solutions, as they determine the process, the mechanical properties and the service life of an object.
Regarding β-titanium alloys, they are more and more used in the biomedical and aeronautic fields and the modelling of their thermo-mechanical behaviour will become an enabling technology in order to perform forming at warm and elevated temperatures. Given the huge interest in the thermo-mechanical behaviour of lightweight β-titanium alloys, one objective of this project consists in its investigation and numerical modelling over a large range of temperatures. It is also intended to include the modelling of the occurrence of plastic instabilities in β-titanium alloys, for a biphasic material, i.e. titanium molybdenum with several compositions as well as an industrial material. Moreover, the technological part of this project aims to validate the thermo-mechanical models to the case of hot forming of a β-titanium alloy.
Then, the final objective of this project is to perform a fast eco-audit, using eco-indicators, for different scenarios including hot forming and heat treatment for β-titanium alloys. Additionally, a business plan for a promising application will be developed. As a global overview, this project deals with the virtual forming and mechanical design of parts made out of β-titanium alloys for a large range of compositions, based on the modelling of the thermo-mechanical properties (up to rupture) of such alloys in a large range of temperatures.
Project Objectives
O1: Numerical modelling of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of lightweight β-titanium alloys over a large range of temperatures, including the occurrence of plastic instabilities in β-titanium alloys, for a biphasic material, i.e. titanium-molybdenum (Ti-Mo) with several compositions as well as an industrial material, namely Ti-5Al-5V-5Mo-3Cr (wt %).
O2: Calibration of the thermo-mechanical models over a large experimental (and already existing) database for β-titanium alloys and to validate them in the case of forming, both at room and high temperature.
O3: Development of a fast eco-audit, using eco-indicators, for different scenarios: hot forming and heat treatment for β-titanium alloys. A business plan for a promising application will also be developed.
Project structure
The ViFoMeTi project is organised into 5 work packages:
WP1 - Management and training: includes tasks and deliverables distributed through the entire fellowship duration. The Researcher, Bernardete Coelho, will be involved in both research and financial management tasks.
WP2 – Modelling of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of β titanium alloys: this is the central work package of the ViFoMeTi project, containing all the tasks required to reach objective 1 (O1), i.e. the development of models for the thermomechanical behaviour of β titanium alloys for different temperatures and compositions.
WP3 – Validation for a forming and/or in mechanical design: consists in the validation of the programme(s) developed in WP2 and will start concurrently with the final modelling developments and implementations of WP2.
WP4 - Environmental and Business assessments: involves the tasks required to reach objective 3 (O3) of the ViFoMeTi project.
WP5 - Dissemination, exploitation and communication: includes the tasks concerning the dissemination, exploitation and communication activities of the ViFoMeTi project.