The Materials Research Line counts professors and researchers referring to the ING-IND/21 academic discipline for research and teaching, working on three main research topics: Advanced Materials, Applied Metallurgy, Steelmaking and Metallurgical Processes.

The research topics involve alloys and processes optimisation, new materials development, alterations on materials caused by transformation processes and service conditions and their level of sustainability, according to a perspective that includes the synthesis of the material, the usage of the component as well as its disposal and recycling.

The investigated materials are structural ferrous and non-ferrous alloys, which are usually optimised based on a lightweight-design approach to create new materials, processes and products to reach a higher level of social and environmental sustainability. For example, modern steels and plural innovations involving steelmaking industry are leaning towards using more sustainable raw materials and power sources.

In parallel, the research activities deal with topics on the synthesis of new materials, not only metals but also ceramics and composites, with specific structural and functional properties. Among them, just to mention a few, shape memory alloys, thermoelectric materials, Phase Change Materials (PCM) for heat harvesting and management, 3D reticular structures, metamaterials and multi-material products by additive manufacturing.

Recently, a significant part of the research activities and investments of the Research Line focused on modelling and simulation of materials and manufacturing processes by investigating them on different dimensional scales: the microstructural one to define the physical properties and transformation caused by heat and deformations under processing; the mesoscopic one for the effects on the local mechanical properties; the microscopic one to for the criteria for product design.

The Research Line of Materials is at the first floor of B22 bulding (former PPG), via La Masa 34.