The work carried out by the Structure and Change in Materi-als research group, one of the 22 groups in the Delft Centre for Materials (DCMat), is ex-tremely diverse, explains Prof. Barend Thijsse. The group’s work ranges from step-by-step improvement of alloys to re-searching suits of armour from the Middle Ages. By Peter Baeten On a scale between less than one picometre and approximately 0.1 micrometre, the group Structure and Change in Materials works on the research and improvement of the structure of mostly metals, alloys and semiconductors (no polymers). The group researches the materials under realistic ‘dirty’ conditions. This means, for example, even researching materials that are not in equilib-rium (hence the term ‘Change’ in the group’s name). Prof. Barend Thijsse, leader of the group: 'Computer simulations make up a large part of the work. These allow us to design new materials, as it were. For exam-ple, in improving aluminium al-loys we can substitute a certain element virtually with another element. This means that the work we do actually precedes the experimental research.' Therefore, one of the important research areas is the ‘design’ of materials, for example of alloys. This is an example of the work carried out in the Virtual Materi-als Laboratory, one of the four sections within the Structure and Change in Materials group. The other three are Solid State Trans-

formations, Materials in Art and Archaeology, and the X-ray Labo-ratory. The categorisation of these sec-tions is a clear indication of just how diverse the research carried out by Barend Thijsse’s group is. This is also reflected in the re-search portfolio and the applica-tion area of the diverse research lines: they range from research into material defects to solid state transformations, thin films, hydrogen filters and the stability of semiconductors, to name but a few.

Important experimental re-search methods for Barend Thijsse’s group are X-ray dif-fraction and X-ray fluores-cence, carried out at the X-ray Laboratory. With these facili-ties, Structure and Change in Materials also fulfils an impor-tant function for other re-searchers from inside and out-side TU Delft. In terms of public profile, how-ever, the most striking in Bar-end Thijsse’s group is the group led by Joris Dik, Materials in Art and Archaeology. Subjects

L A B O R ATO RY P R O F I L E F R O M A L U M I N I U M A L L O Y I N G TO VERMEER

In this issue

FROM ALUMINIUM ALLOYING

TO VERMEER 1

PREDICTING THE TRAJEC-TORY OF CRACKS

2

DECISION STRATEGIES IN DESIGN

4

SBIR WORKSHOP SELF HEA-LING MATERIALS

5

IMPROVING POLY-ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL MEMBRANES

6

ALERTS / AGENDA 8

MECHANICAL SPECTROSCOPY 7

March 2007

Delft Centre for Materials Touching the future today

Newsletter i ssue 9

Delft University of Technology Delft Centre for Materials

Deadline contributions for next issue:

20th of April 2007

Jan Vermeer, Young Woman at a Virginal, ca. 1670, oil on canvas, private collection.

continued on page 2

Page 2 Newsletter

One of the challenges in the development of finite element models for the prediction of crack growth is the creation and propagation of cracks in a truly mesh-independent way. The partition of unity method provides an elegant solution. By Joris Remmers The failure behaviour of materi-als can be studied using numeri-cal techniques based on the finite element method. From a historical point of view, a dis-tinction can be made between two techniques: smeared ap-proaches and the discrete frac-ture models. In the smeared approach, failure in a material is modelled by decreasing the stiffness of the continuum ele-ments according to a damage law to dissipate the correct amount of energy. Instead of creating a true crack in the model, the effects of the failure

process are smeared out over a specific width.

The smeared approach fails to hold when the process zone, the area in the vicinity of the crack tip in which the material is un-dergoing irreversible deforma-tions, is relatively small. The alternative in this case is a dis-crete failure approach, such as the cohesive surface formulation. Instead of smearing, the fracture processes are lumped into a sin-gle plane in front of the crack, the cohesive surface. The failure characteristics of the material are determined by an independ-ent constitutive relation that describes the separation of the cohesive surface. The positions of traction free cohesive surfaces in the model mark the presence of a crack in the material.

Conventionally, cohesive surfaces can be inserted in the finite ele-ment mesh as interface ele-ments, which are placed be-

W A A R D E P R O M O V E N D U S P R E D I C T I N G T H E T R A J E C T O R Y O F C R A C K S

continued on next page

tween two continuum ele-ments. Unfortunately, this approach is problematic when the trajectory of the crack is not known beforehand. A pos-sible solution is to add inter-faces between all elements, as demonstrated in Figure 1. In this simulation, crack growth in arbitrary directions has been captured, but the approach is still mesh-dependent. First, the trajec-tory is constrained to a se-lected number of angles, which prevents small devia-tions to be captured. In addi-tion, since the cohesive zones have a non-zero compliance

Figure 1:Cohesive surface model for the simulation of fast crack growth. In this model, cohesive surfaces are inserted as inter-faces at all inter-element boundaries (Xu and Needleman, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 42, 1994).

Figure 2: Simulation of dynamic shear failure using the partition of unity approach. Left: trajectory of the crack at low impact veloci-ties; Right: trajectory at high velocities.

at the interface of art, archae-ology and technology are regu-larly the focus points of the group’s work. An example of this is Sylvia Leever, a student at TU Delft, who came up with the idea of researching old suits of armour to find out if they were really ‘bullet proof’ (for which she won the Young Wild Ideas Award of the Delft Centre for Materials). Leever researched the materials properties of 17th Century armour breastplates. Her research proposal was rather unconventional in the sense that she carried out de-structive research on two

L A B O R ATO RY P R O F I L E ( C O N T I N U E D )

breastplates specially purchased for the experiment (while many of such armour pieces can be found in museum). With the aid of rifle tests at TNO-PML, Leever was able to obtain a clear indi-cation of the properties of these harnesses, and she came up with a model that will avoid destruc-tive tests on such pieces of ‘cultural’ heritage in future. Another notable research pro-ject to come out of Joris Dik’s group concerned a controversial painting by Vermeer entitled Young Woman Standing at Vir-ginal. The materials science researchers ascertained that the

woman’s coat had probably been reworked. TU Delft was able to use this to pursue an important technical argument that supports the earlier find-ings of art historians (that the painting is quite definitely a Vermeer). With the help of modern elec-tron microscopy from the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at TU Delft, the researchers were able to determine that the yellow top layer of paint on the coat does not match the layer beneath. The white lead in the upper layer has a completely different struc-

continued on page 4

Two identical nanowires: the copper nanowire (upper) and silicon nano-wire (lower) have different fracture behaviour upon horizontal move-ment of the upper plateau. Computer simulations help to analyse the brittle fracture (lower, silicon) and ductile fracture (upper, copper) into fine detail. This research is important for future generation chips.

ture. The grain size of the paint particles is larger and much more irregular than those in the layer of paint beneath. More-over, small particles of alumi-nosilicate were discovered at the interface of the two layers, which were missing elsewhere in the layer of paint. The most probable explanation for this is dust pollution of the bottom layer of paint before the top layer was added. The weaker stylistic finish of the yellow coat can, therefore, be seen as a reworking, which is one of the important art historical argu-ments for attributing the canvas to Vermeer. But Dik’s research is not merely of public relations value only. Last year for example, an ar-chaeological research project carried out with Leiden Univer-sity resulted in the publication of an article in Nature. Materi-als science research at TU Delft into 3,200 year old glazed ce-ramics from the Middle East showed that an innovative em-bellishing technology had been developed there but was then later lost. Researchers examined ceramic pieces from 1200 BC that had been found in a ruined temple in what is now Jordan. They analysed the composition of a bowl made of faience (a type of

glazed ceramic) and discovered small particles of the mineral chromite in the glazed coating. The discovery threw new light on the technology history of the Middle East. Chromite had never before been found in glazes from the Middle East before Roman times. It would appear that this remarkable technology

sank into oblivion after the Late Bronze Age and has re-mained there until today. Another striking element of Barend Thijsse’s field of re-search is the forthcoming launch of the sports materials specialisation in the Materials Engineering Master’s pro-gramme, where Barend Thijsse’s group will play a prominent role. And not only in the area of education. Accord-ing to Barend Thijsse, apart from offering courses, there will also be serious scientific research carried out in the field of sports materials. In addition to these activities, Barend Thijsse ardently sup-ports the DCMat overarching theme, self-healing materials. 'The subject is a little bit of a hype, but why not let it be a hype? The fact is, you have to create a lot of ideas in order to create good ones.'

Apart from Barend Thijsse, the group Structure and Change in Materials comprises three associate professors, approxi-mately fourteen post-docs and PhD students, and three tech-nician support staff.

Contact Information: Prof. Barend Thijsse: b.j.thijsse@tudelft.nl

DCMat Page 3

“A prominent source of research questions for Janssen’s field is the automotive industry,

one of the biggest users of coating

systems and surface treatments”

Cross section of the paint of the ’yellow coat’ at Vermeers ’Young woman at a virginal’. The upper left figure is an optical image. Proceeding clock-wise mappings of the elemental distribution of the same cross section for various elements are shown. The upper and lower layers of the paint differ significantly in composition and structure. Moreover, the interface be-tween the two paint layers is contaminated by large grains of feldspar (Al, Si). This suggests the upper paint layer was not by Vermeer, but an addi-tion of later times.

Page 4 Newsletter

continued on page 5

M A T E R I A L S H I G H L I G H T D E C I S I O N S T R A T E G I E S I N D E S I G N

W A A R D E P R O M O V E N D U S ( C O N T I N U E D )

In this thesis, the partition of unity ap-proach has been used to investigate a number of fracture prob-lems on differ-ent levels of observation. The method has been im-plemented in a solid-like shell element to analyse delamination buckling on a structural level. In an alternative model, the method is used to study the fast crack propagation in solids due to an impact load. It can be seen in Figure 2 that the direction of the crack depends on the impact veloc-ity, which is in agreement with experimental observa-tions. Finally, the method has

been extended to analyse the nucleation growth and coales-cence of multiple cracks, as demonstrated in Figure 3.

More information Joris Remmers J.J.C.Remmers@TUDelft.nl

prior to cracking, the overall stiffness of the material is slightly smaller than ex-pected, which may influence the results.

The alternative is to incorpo-rate the cohesive zones as discontinuities in the contin-uum elements by employing the partition of unity property of finite element shape func-tions. The magnitude of this discontinuity is set by an addi-tional set of degrees of free-dom, which are added to the existing nodes of the finite element mesh. The disconti-nuities can be added and ex-tended in the finite element mesh during a simulation, which allows for the simula-tion of crack propagation in arbitrary directions, irrespec-tive of the structure of the finite element mesh. In addi-tion, since a cohesive zone is only extended when needed, the use of a dummy stiffness prior to cracking is avoided and the number of additional degrees of freedom remains small.

Figure 3: Crack branching at the interface of a bi-material specimen under tensile load.

“We developed finite element models for the

prediction of crack growth and

propagation in a truly mesh-independent

way.”

In the third week of January 2007 prof. Ashby from Cam-bridge taught at the Faculty of Architecture and con-cluded his visit as key-note speaker at the seminar De-cision Strategies in Design.

By Fred Veer & Alexander Schmets

Design is often considered as merely a creative process. However, at many stages in the design process decisions are taken, either intuitive or as a result of carefully con-sidering various technical, aesthetic or psychological aspects. The ever increasing complexity of products as well as the environment in which these products are being used/applied asks for a concurrent and multidiscipli-nary approach of the design process, where experts on

these various aspects bring in their alternative design sug-gestions in the stage of the amalgamation of the ideas: the stage where the ultimate design decisions have to be taken.

The aspect of knowledge and how to use it in the design process was treated by Henri Christiaans of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering. He shed his light on the cate-gory of knowledge that is required by the designer, and to which extent decision tools, like CES, provide the designer with this knowledge. Closely related were the presentations of Wim Poel-man of the Faculty of Archi-tecture, who dedicated his presentation to the diffusion of technical knowledge in industrial design and of Rob Nijsse, who gave numerous

examples from his experience as a structural designer, while Ilse van Kesteren focused on how materials are selected by design-ers, and the effect of this selec-tion on the interaction with the user.

It is clear that for making proper decisions, a classification of the important properties, faceted classification, plays an important role. Researchers from the uni-

versity of Bath presented a software system that helps browsing through faceted schemes.

Finally, the key note speaker Mike Ashby presented another design tool. This software, CES, provides the user with-tools to help making design decisions quickly by providing information varying from Eco-design to production costs.

The software is based on his own standard work ‘Materials Selection in Mechanical De-sign’, now in it’s third edition.

The faculty of architecture has introduced the Cambridge Engineering Selector software from Granta Design this aca-demic year. To introduce the staff of the faculty of Archi-tecture to the CES tool a se-ries of courses was arranged

on the 16th to 18th of januari where 58 staf members, vary-ing form PhD students to full professors, were taught by Prof. Ashby personally how to use the software. The course was a great success and should contribute significantly to the successful use of the CES soft-ware, facilitating the use of materials science knowledge in the design curriculum.

DCMat Newsletter Page 5

M A T E R I A L F R I E N D F R A N K N U I J E N S , P R E S S O F F I C E R O F T U D E L F T

This software provides the user with tools to help making design decisions quickly by

providing information varying from Eco-

design to production costs.

V A L O R I S I N G M A T E R I A L K N O W L E D G E S M A L L B U S I N E S S I N N O V A T I O N R E S E A R C H ( S B I R ) W O R K S H O P

One of the many differences between the USA and the Netherlands is the speed with which new knowledge is trans-ferred from the university to industry, where the applica-tion of this knowledge adds value. Such a difference is of course the result of a lot of factors but, according to the Dutch Ministry of Economical Affairs, an important factor could be the American Small Business Innovation Research programme (SBIR). We are very delighted that the de-partmental SBIR working group of the ministry has se-lected the area of Self Healing Materials as one of the areas were a future SBIR programme

could become a success.

Therefore, a special workshop on SBIR in relation to the area of self healing materials is being organized on 17 April, 09.00-14.00, at the Ministry of Eco-nomical Affairs (Ministerie van Economische Zaken, Bezuiden-houtseweg 30, Den Haag).

The programme will start of with a presentation on the Dutch SBIR initiative. Next two renowned guest speakers will share their views. Prof. Les Lee from the Airforce Office of Scientific Re-search (AFOSR) will present the new business development in the USA, where he is responsible for the funding of various research programmes in self healing materials, and Prof.

Klaas van Breugel (TU Delft) will discuss the possibilities for commer-cializing self healing con-crete.

You are cordially invited to attend this workshop. For up-to-date information concerning the pilots and SBIR visit www.sbir.nl. For more information on this workshop contact:

Patrick van Veenendaal (P.vanVeenendaal@senternovem.nl), SenterNovem, or Gerrit Linssen (G.J.M.Linssen@minez.nl), Min. van Economische Zaken

The ‘WTC-team’ (Science and Technology Communication) is part of the department of Corporate Communication at TU Delft. Our department has three science information officers who consult the Delft Research Centres (DRC’s) on their external communication and act as their press officers. The science information offi-cer for the Delft Centre for Materials is Frank Nuijens.

What’s our role? We are the communication consultants for the DRC’s, institutes and themes. Fur-thermore, we are the “press officers” for the DRC’s to-wards international, national, regional and specialized me-

dia. We can also put you in touch with our communication consultant of the Valorization Centre if you have valorisation questions, or our public affairs officer who maintains and elaborates TU Delft connec-tions in The Hague and Brus-sels. We are the ambassadors of the research within the DRC’s for the corporate communication of TU Delft. We try to incorpo-rate this research into TU com-munication activities, like student recruitment, staff recruitment, internal commu-nication, public affairs, valori-zation etc. We are the science communi-cation officers for all the re-

search within TU Delft.

What can I do for you? I am your communication con-sultant, working mainly with the DRC management on stra-tegic plans and the execution of them. I am also your science information officer and ambas-sador. Please keep in mind that my role as information officer and ambassador can only be successful if I am aware of your research activi-ties. This approach works both ways: I will stay in touch with you to stay updated on re-search, to connect you to jour-nalists who approach us with questions about your research subject and by informing you

about communication initia-tives at TU Delft which we can use to promote DRC research. On the other hand I need you to keep me updated on new developments. That way I can find the best way to communi-cate your information to the target audience. So please get in touch!

How can you reach me? Frank Nuijens Prometheusplein 1, Delft (TU Delft Library) T: 015 - 278 4259 F: 015 - 278 1855 M: 06 - 140 151 18 E: F.W.Nuijens@tudelft.nl W: http://www.drc.tudelft.nl

The 2006 Shell Bachelor Prize has been won by Leen van der Ham of the DelftChemTech section Nanostructured Materials, TU Delft. Van der Ham re-ceived the prize (2,500 eu-ros) during the finals on February 13, for his Bache-lor’s thesis on the possibili-ties of converting hydrogen to electricity. Shell Neder-land and the technical uni-versities of Delft, Eindhoven and Twente award the prize annually to motivate young talent to focus on sustain-able development. DCMat congratulates Leen and his supervisors with this very honourable achievement.

By Leen van der Ham

Recently, I discovered that research on materials pays. On February the 13th I re-ceived the Shell Bachelor Award 2006 for my research project on a polymer fuel cell membrane, and was rewarded with the prize of 2500 euros. The Shell Bachelor Master Award is a relatively new an-nual prize presented to the best Bachelor and Masters students who have conducted a research project in the field of energy and sustainability. My Bachelor’s project, which I completed at the NanoStruc-tured Materials (NSM) group at the Delft University of Tech-nology, was about improving the mechanical properties of a new potential fuel cell mem-brane material.

A fuel cell is an energy conver-sion device, taking hydrogen and converting it into protons and electricity. The efficiency of the fuel cell is strongly de-pendent on the polymer elec-trolyte membrane and its abil-ity to transport protons through the cell. At the moment the mass-application of fuel cells is still limited by the high costs involved with the membranes that are used, typically a per-fluorinated sulphonic acid poly-mer known as Nafion. Also the properties of Nafion are not yet optimal for some operating conditions. A potential alterna-tive for Nafion is a liquid crys-talline polymer based on sul-phonated polyaramid that has been developed by the NSM group. First tests have already shown that most of the proper-ties of this material are suitable for use in a fuel cell, but unfor-tunately the mechanical prop-erties proved to be insufficient. The main problem was that the membranes were too brittle, making them break very easily and therefore difficult to han-dle.

During my research project, I investigated the possibilities for improving the mechanical properties by adding a second polymer to the sulphonated polyaramid. It was expected that adding a small amount of a flexible cationic polymer could result into a stronger material. The cationic polymer forms ionic bonds with the anionic sulphonic group of the rigid polyaramid. In this way it essentially glues the material together. However, the proton conduction properties of the material, which are introduced to the material by the sul-phonic groups, may also de-crease because of this ionic interaction.

After analysing several me-chanical and conducting prop-erties of membranes with vary-ing polymer ratios, I concluded that indeed the mechanical properties are improved by adding the second polymer. A good illustration of the result is the fact that it was possible to fold the membranes in two without breaking them. The conducting properties of the membranes were also affected by the ionic interaction; it resulted in a very slight but acceptable decrease. Although the conductivity at room tem-perature was found to be lower compared to Nafion, it was comparable at a temperature of 90 °C because of a strong dependence on the water con-tent in the membrane that

Page 6 Newsletter

continued on page 7

M A S T E R I N G M A T E R I A L S I M P R O V I N G P O L Y - E L E C T R O L Y T E F U E L C E L L M E M B R A N E S

“At the moment the mass-application of

fuel cells is still limited by the high

costs involved with the membranes that are

used, typically a perfluorinated

sulphonic acid polymer known as Nafion. ”

Typical configuration of a hydrogen fed fuel cell

The structure of a sulphonated polyaramid polymer

CathodeAnode Membrane

H2 in O2 in

H2O out

e- e-

H+

H+

H+

H+

H+

H+

CathodeAnode Membrane

H2 in O2 in

H2O out

e- e-

H+

H+

H+

H+

H+

H+

NH

O

O

*

NH

*

SO3H

n

Recently a new set up has been installed at the Reac-tor Institute Delft: an inter-nal friction spectrometer for characterisation of the mi-crostructure in metals. By David San Martin

Mechanical Spectroscopy, also known as internal friction, is a spectroscopic technique in which a mechanical oscillating stress (applied by torsioning) at a certain frequency is ap-plied on a solid. The stress applied has to be below the elastic limit of the material. Under this condition, the de-formation will be recovered upon release of the applied

stress. Deformation is com-posed of two contributions; the elastic (linearly propor-tional to the applied stress with an instantaneous re-sponse) and an anelastic con-tribution (much lower in mag-nitude and showing delayed response, which is due to dissipative, i.e. frictional, losses in the material). The anelastic response is related to the motion of defects (dislocations, interstitials, vacancies … etc.) and results in dissipation of energy. The internal friction is a measure of the mechanical energy dissipated and depends on the frequency and temperature applied during the experi-ment. This energy absorbed is directly related to the number

and kind of mobile defects present inside the solid, as well as to the characteristic motion that they undergo. Therefore, the measurement of internal friction can be used to obtain information about the microstructure of the material in a non-destructive way.

Instrument Specifications:

- Temperature range:100-1200 K - Strain amplitude range:10-4 - 10-6 - Frequency range: 0.1–10 Hz - Sample dimensions: (L x W x T) 58 x 4 x 1 mm3

Contact information: David San Martin D.SanMartin@TUDelft.nl www.dcmat-is.tudelft.nl

Dr. Eduardo Mendes (e.mendes@tudelft.nl) , Prof. Stephen Picken (s.j.picken@tudelft.nl), or visit the NSM website (www.dct.tudelft.nl/nsm).

Contact information:

Leen van der Ham Chemical Engineering student l.v.vanderham@student.tudelft.nl

assists with proton transport.

Altogether, this new material seems to be a good alternative for Nafion. According to the jury of the Shell Award, my research project was consid-ered to have the best poten-tial. For more details about the development of new poly-meric materials for fuel cell membranes, contact Dr. Hayley Every (h.a.every@tudelft.nl),

DCMat Newsletter Page 7

The Mechanical Spectroscopy set-up at

the Reactor Institute Delft

M A S T E R I N G M A T E R I A L S ( C O N T I N U E D ) I M P R O V I N G P O L Y - E L E C T R O L Y T E F U E L C E L L M E M B R A N E S

Picture of a mechanically improved membrane

I N S T R U M E N T O F T H E M O N T H M E C H A N I C A L S P E C T R O S C O P Y : U S I N G I N T E R N A L F R I C T I O N T O C H A R A C T E R I S E M I C R O S T R U C T U R E

Schematic representation of a typical Me-

chanical Spectroscopy set-up.

The measurement of internal friction can be

used to obtain information about the

microstructure of a material in a non-destructive way.

Delft Centre for Mater ia l s

M AT E R I A L S A L E RT : D E A D L I N E S A N D M O R E

A G E N D A U P C O M I N G E V E N T S

First International Confer-ence on Self Healing Materi-als

In about two weeks time the First International Conference on Self Healing materials will take place. By now, more than 170 delegates have registered. The conference will have a strong international character, and covers all major materials classes. The opportunity to register is still open. Please, if you don’t want to miss it, register online via www.selfhealingmaterials.nl

Young Wild Ideas

By the end of May, begin-ning of June, the Young Wild Idea Committee will gather again and select from the newly received young wild ideas. If you have a good idea that has a connection with materials, please do not hesitate, but submit. Details about sub-mission and proposal format can be found on the DCMat website.

International Lustrum Symposium, ‘SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS, Focus on Africa’

We invite you to sub-mit an abstract on technological solu-tions to the social, ecological, and eco-nomic aspects of sustainable develop-ment. The scope includes research, educational and consultancy pro-jects on one or more of the themes that can be found on the symposium website, that can be reached by clicking the banner on the TU Delft homepage.

Page 8

Visiting Adress Delft Centre for Materials P.O. 5058 2600 GB Delft Kluyverweg 1 2629 HS Delft Editorial Team Peter Baeten Eduardo Mendes Frank Nuijens Wim Poelman Joris Remmers Mario de Rooij Alexander Schmets Geeta van der Zaken Contributions Leen van der Ham David San Martin Barend Thijsse Fred Veer

Contributions to the news-letter can be send to info.dcmat@tudelft.nl.

Online You can find the online version of the newsletter in the Newsletter section of www.dcmat.tudelft.nl . Disclaimer The information in this Newsletter has been thor-oughly checked by the editorial team. We can, however, not prevent that mistakes might occur. The Delft Centre for Mate-rials does not take respon-sibility for these mistakes or any consequences there of.

4 April 2007, 15:00-16:30h Reactor Institute Delft, TU Delft Colloquium ‘Trans-disciplinary Research in the Bio- and Material Cultures at Qumran, the Site of the Dead Sea scrolls’, by Jan Gunneweg (CAAS)

17 April 2007, 09:00h, Ministry of Economical Affairs Workshop Small Business Innovation Research

18-20 April 2007, Noordwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands First International Conference on Self Healing Materials

7 May 2007, 15:00h, Aula TU Delft ‘A computational framework for uncertainty quantification in fibre-reinforced composites.’, thesis defence by D.B. Chung

8 May 2007, 10:00h, Aula TU Delft ‘3D Analysis of Fracture Processes in Concrete ’, thesis defence by G. Lilliu

9-10 May 2007, Eindhoven Vakbeurs Materials Engineering. Special theme: materials selection.

4 June 2007, 15:00h, Aula TU Delft ‘Modeling of Combined Physical-Mechanical Moisture Induced Damage of Asphaltic Mixes ’, thesis defence by N. Kringos

5 June 2007, 15:00h, Aula TU Delft ‘Reeling of Tight Fit Pipe ’, thesis defence by E.S. Focke

5 June 2007, 10:00h, Aula TU Delft ‘Permanent deformation of asphalt mixtures ’, thesis defence by P.M. Muraya

11 June 2007, 10:00h, Aula TU Delft ‘Pulse Cathodic Protection ’, thesis defence by D.A. Koleva

3-8 June 2007, Faculty of Civil Engineering, TU Delft Concrete Microscopy: a yearly course on the characterisation of the microstructure of cement based materials for MSC and PhD students as well as professionals from industry

2-5 July 2007, City Hall, Delft Workshop “Instabilities across the scales”

23-28 July 2007, Eifel Mountains, Germany The Second IDEA League Summer School on ‘Multiscale Modelling in Materials Science and Engineering’