We specialise in developing new metal alloys for your specific application. We offer a quick and flexible production of your tailor-made alloys in small batches, ranging from 100 g to 100 kg. In the Metal Processing Centre (MPC) we carry out the entire production process on a laboratory scale (WMV 15,5 MB). This is more cost-efficient than industrial trials. Thanks to full data logging of all process parameters, upscaling to industrial level is possible.

We have all the expertise and necessary equipment to describe the effects of production processes on the microstructure of metals. Based on metallurgical modelling, we are able to suggest ways of optimising your process. For example, we design the ideal alloy for you, with the guarantee that it is technically feasible to produce it on industrial scale. The flexible levitation melting device quickly gathers metallurgical and thermodynamic data for modelling and can even be used for screening of different alloys in one casting. Fast throughput allows quick screening of chemical composition, thermo-mechanical processing parameters and thermal treatment.

Our casting capabilities range from air casting over vacuum casting to ultra-pure levitation melting. Reversible and continuous hot rolling stands allow rolling of sheets and heavy plates. The cooling down can be done  from very slow to ultra fast. Different annealing methods (continuous, batch and reactive annealing process simulator) in different atmospheres enable the investigation of the effect of various heat treatments on material properties. Finally, we have modern facilities for physical testing, combined with advanced sample preparation including waterjet cutting.

In our fully equipped, integrated hydrogen laboratory (PDF 383 kB), we focus on revealing the hydrogen behaviour inside the material and selecting the appropriate materials for hydrogen containing environments. We have a wide range of H2 specific mechanical tests to investigate hydrogen cracking in welds and hydrogen embrittlement, which is especially important for ultra high strength steels and steels for energy pipes. Our advanced testing methods – Hydrogen Induced Cracking (HIC) and Sulphide Stress Corrosion Cracking (SSC) – monitor the effect of corrosion in hydrogen sulphide environments.