Postdoc Minimizing Critical Raw Materials and Mitigating Impurity Effects in Green Steel Grades

Minimizing critical raw material usage and mitigating impurity deterioration of novel, precipitation-strengthened, green steel grades

This research position focuses on minimizing critical raw material usage and mitigating impurity deterioration in novel, precipitation-strengthened, green steel grades.

Job description

The Netherlands has expressed the ambition to have a sustainable mobility system and put forward the goal of a reduction to 21.3 Mt CO2 remaining emission by 2030 for the mobility sector. Industrial companies, like Tata Steel, Nedschroef, VDL Weweler, FNsteel, SKF and Bosch are addressing this challenge. Their response is the development of innovative and advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) products that will allow weight reduction of the car body without compromise on safety and performance. The change from internal combustion to electric vehicles necessitates the development of these novel steels. Electric vehicles require a different crash system, because they do not have a heavy combustion engine at the front.

Moreover, novel steel grades need to be developed for the cover of the battery box to withstand the heat that is released in a thermal runaway. Advanced high-strength steels currently used for these types of applications rely for their strength (partly) on precipitation strengthening. These precipitates are commonly composed of niobium-, vanadium- and/or titanium, which are considered to be critical raw materials (CRM) for the EU. This means that these materials are of high economic value, but that there is a supply risk associated to these materials.

Therefore, it is important to reduce the EU dependency on CRM’s by reducing the usage of CRM’s and by recycling steels containing CRM’s. This will stimulate the EU’s strategic autonomy. Steel scrap is often contaminated with impurities, e.g. copper (Cu) and tin (Sn). The deteriorating effect of these impurities, in the form of hot-shortness, can be counteracted with the addition of aluminium.

The scientific aim of this research is to develop a precipitation model for novel green steels to maximize the precipitate strengthening with a minimum use of CRM’s while mitigating impurity deterioration and without compromising on safety and performance. This will help to develop light-weight electric vehicles, thus resulting in direct economic and environmental benefits.

Job requirements

• Proficient in solute drag modelling during phase transformations in steels
• Proficient in thermodynamic simulations of driving forces of phase transformations and precipitation reactions
• Proficient in the development of analytical models for the kinetics of alloycarbide precipitation, phase transformations, random precipitation and interphase precipitation in steels
• Proficient in working with Thermo-Calc, Dictra and Micress software packages
• Good understanding of small-angle neutron scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and atom probe tomography experiments of interphase and random precipitation in steel

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Delft University of Technology is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society.

Faculty Mechanical Engineering

Research and education at the ME faculty focusses on fundamental understanding, design, production including application and product improvement, materials, processes and (mechanical) systems.

ME is a dynamic and innovative faculty with high-tech lab facilities and international reach. It’s a large faculty but also versatile, so we can often make unique connections by combining different disciplines.