TK Stainless

90 MaGaZine high-performance materials
in The researCh LaB in altena,
the materials are tested in caustic fluids
for resistance to wet corrosion.
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ThyssenKrupp VDM is researChinG ToDay To
DeVeLop The MaTeriaLs oF ToMorroW
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“One of ThyssenKrupp VDM’s most popular products is Nicrofer
5923 hMO, which is mainly used in the chemical industry and in
environmental technology. It’s a top-quality high-performance
material that gives corrosion processes no chance.” Dr. Jutta
Klöwer, head of research and development at ThyssenKrupp VDM,
points to a glass jar in the chemical lab filled with a bright green
fluid. “That’s ‘Green Death’,” she says. “A solution that destroys all
materials. Except Nicrofer 5923 hMo.”
Green, blue, yellow and red: material death by wet
corrosion has many colors in the ThyssenKrupp VDM lab.
Chemical lab worker Sebastian Maus stands in front of a row of
plastic canisters, taps the required amounts of the caustic fluids
into a flask and submerges a small metal plate in the solution. In
consultation with the respective project managers from the R&D
department, Maus decides which solutions should be used and
whether the materials are to be tested in them for 24 hours or a
whole month. The project managers are involved in all stages of
the research process, which for a major new development lasts an
average of two years.
The process always starts with intensive discussions
with customers. “We define the exact requirements a new material
has to meet in advance – for example what kind of acid it must
be resistant to or in what gas and at what temperature it is to be
used,” says Dr. Heike Hattendorf, project manager in the R&D
department at ThyssenKrupp VDM. “The aim is always to find a
tailored solution that meets our customers’ requirements.”
Discussions and contract negotiations are followed by
extensive literature and patent searches. “After sifting through all