Long term durability of materials in challenging environments

Long term durability of materials in challenging environments

In this project, new technology will be introduced, and R&D capabilities of hydrogen technology will be developed together with industry in such a way that the new realistic materials testing environment will quickly become familiar and used in companies' technology development projects. The project will improve the industry's capabilities to select materials and solve the material challenges related to hydrogen technology. The project aims to cooperate with 20 companies.

The transition to a hydrogen economy poses unprecedented challenges for the energy, raw materials and transportation industries. New hydrogen-based processes and applications must be introduced in a very short time to achieve the climate goals. However, little is known about the interactions of hydrogen with materials that are central to the functions of our society, such as steel. To develop and commercialize reliable and safe hydrogen technologies, understanding the interactions is increasingly important. For example, in load-bearing structures, the embrittlement of materials caused by hydrogen can have catastrophic effects, and the use of hydrogen as a fuel does not produce the same lubricating film on the engine surfaces as fossil fuels. The adverse effects of hydrogen on the durability of materials have been studied for a long time, but especially the problems related to the long-term durability of materials are widely unknown. In particular, fatigue, so-called fretting fatigue and various multi-physical phenomena such as tribocorrosion cause a large part of the damage to industrial components.

The project uses the equipment purchased under "Investment to Realistic Testing Environment for Materials in Hydrogen Technology”. The basic idea of the project is that the new research infrastructure is implemented as quickly as possible as part of companies' material and product development programs. After the device is put into use, the potential of the research infrastructure is demonstrated with concrete examples, where a realistic testing environment and comparison of different material solutions and performance analysis are made concrete. Several workshop-type meetings are organized with the companies, where the potential of the research infrastructure is demonstrated, and a new hydrogen technology ecosystem model is built as a basis for future projects and to improve the regional RDI potential.

The project enables rapid testing of various material solutions in a realistic operating environment, as well as the development and testing of broader material solutions, such as coatings and surface treatments. This helps companies especially in material selection and other product development. National and international project activities can be activated with the help of the new operating environment. The project develops a new ecosystem model in which the entire value chain of hydrogen technology and subcontracting chains of companies are brought into joint operations.

The project focuses on defining the value generation of the new innovation ecosystem through common business interests and bringing the university's extensive technical research expertise in the field of hydrogen technology into the operation. The model is developed in conjunction with workshops organized with companies, where information is collected to form the basis of a generic and scalable cooperation model.International project activities can be activated with the help of an up-to-date operating environment. TAU's goal is to use the equipment during and after the project to intensify R&D activities between the university and companies. However, these functions are less than 10% of the total use of the device, as the main direction of the university's research is in public national and international projects and educational purposes. These projects are of general interest and are reported in seminars, conferences and publications. In addition, the device is used in activities between the research groups of the university community.

International project activities can be activated with the help of an up-to-date operating environment. TAU's goal is to use the equipment during and after the project to intensify R&D activities between the university and companies. However, these functions are less than 10% of the total use of the device, as the main direction of the university's research is in public national and international projects and educational purposes. These projects are of general interest and are reported in seminars, conferences and publications. In addition, the device is used in activities between the research groups of the university community.

Investment to Realistic Testing Environment for Materials in Hydrogen Technology

In this project, new technology will be introduced, and R&D capabilities of hydrogen technology will be developed together with industry in such a way that the new realistic materials testing environment will quickly become familiar and used in companies' technology development projects. The project will improve the industry's capabilities to select materials and solve the material challenges related to hydrogen technology. The project aims to cooperate with 20 companies. This project will invest in systems required for automatic processing of high pressure H2 gases (valves, gages, ATEX-Sertified cabin) and the systems that provide safe operation of the testing environment (PLC automation). This investment is used in the project “Long term durability of materials in challenging environments”.