This special issue of steel research international is dedicated to the 250th jubilee of the foundation of Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg which was established in Freiberg, Saxony, Germany in the year 1765. Since then, there was a continuous evolution of education and research. Today, our university is among the most active German universities in the field of materials science and technology.
Education in metallurgy started very early after the foundation in 1765 due to the Saxonian mining and metallurgy industry which is dating back to the 12th century. Very early, Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749-–1817) started also lectures on ferrous metallurgy. In 1874, Adolf Ledebur (1837-–1906) was appointed as professor and founded a dedicated course of studies for iron and steel making. Thus, the Institute for Steel Technology is among the oldest institutes in this field worldwide. Two essays by Heinz-Joachim Spies and Wolfgang Lehnert in this issue give overviews on the development of iron metallurgy as well as metal forming in Freiberg.
Today, several institutes are dedicated to research and education with additional activities in refractories, non-ferrous materials, semiconductors, ceramics, glass, and composites by more than 20 professors within three faculties of the university.
The activities in the field of steels cover a broad variety of topics. Special programs, e.g., by the German Research Foundation, as the priority program 1204 “Algorithms for Fast, Material Specific Process-Chain Design and Analysis in Metal Forming” (organized by R. Kawalla, see also this special issue of steel research international), the collaborative research centers SFB 799 “TRIP-Matrix-Composites – – Design of tough and transformation toughened composite materials and structures based on Fe-ZrO2” (spokesperson H. Biermann, see also this special issue of Advanced Engineering Materials) and SFB 920 “Multi-Functional Filters for Metal Melt Filtration – – A Contribution towards Zero Defect Materials” (spokesperson C. Aneziris) are worldwide visible activities in this field.
Moreover, additional contributions on the field of technology, properties, and modelling of steels and steel processes are presented to give an impression on the research activities.
Selected articles of the special issue can be read for free:
In this Full Paper by Enrico Storti et al. two different methods to prepare functional coatings on carbon-bonded ceramic foam filters for steel melt filtration are presented.
In this Full Paper by Javad Mola et al., Q&P-processed Fe–Cr–C, Fe–Cr–C–Co, and Fe–Cr–C–N stainless steels containing various martensite fractions are tensile tested at varying temperatures.
In this Full Paper by Anett Stöcker et al. the evolution of microstructure and texture at final annealing for cold-rolled material of ferritic FeSi steels is investigated and analyzed.
In this Full Paper by Richard Acker et al. an investigation of the wear behavior of MMCs made by infiltration and with martensitic transformations in matrix material and hard particles is presented.
