Can the fracture resistance of metal components be improved?

Thomas Pardoen is the (HA-)PI of an ERC Advanced Grant.

The vision of the project, named HAPI(*), is that the fracture resistance of metallic components can be enhanced by selecting and/or controlling the optimum plate thickness in thin-walled applications and of constituents of thick laminates.

HAPI is at the interface between solids mechanics & metallurgy, combining processing, experiments and numerical simulations.

(*) Acronym HAPI refers to three renown scientists: John Hutchinson (Harvard U.), Tony Atkins (U. Reading) and André Pineau (Ecole des Mines de Paris)