Wilfried Kurz | EPFL Graph Search

Wilfried Kurz is Professor Emeritus of Materials Science at "Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL" (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne). He received his diploma and doctors degree from University of Leoben, Austria. In 1964 he joined the staff of the Battelle Geneva Research Laboratories, which he left in 1971 as head of the physical metallurgy group. In the same year he was appointed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, where, until his retirement in 2003, he directed the Laboratory of Physical Metallurgy as well as of the Laser Materials Processing Centre. After participating in 1972/73 in the foundation of the curriculum in Materials Science and Engineering at EPFL he was twice Head of Department. Under others he served as president of SVMT (Swiss Assoc. for Materials Science & Technology) and of FEMS, the Federation of European Materials Societies. Author of four books, he published some 250 papers and patents, principally on the science and technology of solidification microstructures and processes. Professor Kurz is corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, highly cited researcher and the recipient of awards from Eisenhuette Oesterreich; The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS, USA); ASM International, USA; Société Française de Métallurgie et de Matériaux; Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Materialkunde; Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, London; Associatione Italiana di Metallurgia; Peoples Republic of China; Federation of European Materials Societies; and Iron and Steel Institute of Japan.

Selected publications of recent years:

Fundamentals of Solidification, W. Kurz, DJ Fisher, Trans Tech Publ., Switzerland,, 4th revised edition 1998, 305 p

Solidification, H Müller-Krumbhaar, W Kurz, E Brener, in: Phase Transformations in Materials, G Kostorz, ed., Wiley-VCH, 2001, p.81-170

Single-crystal laser deposition of superalloys: Processing-microstructure maps, M Gäumann, C Bezencon, P Canalis, W Kurz, Acta Mater., 49 (2001) 1051-1062

Solidification microstructure processing maps: Theory and application, W Kurz, Adv. Eng. Mater., 3 (2001) 443-452

Dendritic growth, W Kurz, R Trivedi, in: Proc. MC Flemings Symposium on Solidification and Materials Processing, eds R Abbaschian, H Brody, A Mortensen, TMS, Warrendale, PA, 2001, p. 87-99

Massive Transformation and Absolute Stability, M. Lima, W. Kurz, Metall. Mater. Trans. 33A (2002) 2337-2345

Introduction to Materials Science, JP Mercier, G Zambelli, W Kurz, Elsevier, Paris, 2002, 461 p.

Epitaxial deposition of MCrAlY coatings on a Ni-base superalloy by laser cladding, C Bezencon, A Schnell, W Kurz, Scripta Mater. 49 (2003) 705-709

Peritectic Coupled Growth, S Dobler, TS Lo, M Plapp, A Karma, W Kurz, Acta Mater., 52 (2004) 2795-2808

Solidification cracking of superalloy single- and bi-crystals, N Wang, S Mokadem, M Rappaz, W Kurz, Acta Mater., 52 (2004) 3173-3182

Laser Repair of Superalloy Single Crystals with Varying Substrate Orientations, S Mokadem, C Bezencon, A Hauert, A Jacot, W Kurz, Metall. Mater. Trans. 38A (2007) 1500-1510

Plane Front Solidification, W. Kurz, ASM Handbook Vol. 15: Casting, 2008, 293-298

Solidification microstructures and solid-state parallels: Recent developments, future directions, M Asta, C Beckermann, A Karma, W Kurz, R Napolitano , M Plapp, G Purdy, M Rappaz, R Trivedi, Acta Mater., 57 (2009) 941971

Solute Trapping-Free Massive Transformation at Absolute Stability, A. Jacot, M. Sumida, W. Kurz, Acta Mater. 59 (2011) 1716-1724

Peritectic equilibrium in Fe-Co alloys

Wilfried Kurz

Recent results of directional solidification experiments with Fe-Co alloys were not consistent with the presently accepted peritectic phase diagram. Therefore, the Fe-rich part of this phase diagram was re-examined. High-temperature gradient plane front solidification was carried out at a low velocity. After quenching of the specimen from the peritectic temperature, the compositions of the phases close to the solid/liquid interface were determined through electron probe microanalysis. Using these results together with previously published phase diagram information, an improved phase diagram is proposed with the peritectic equilibrium at T-p = 1774 K, C-delta = 17.7, C-gamma = 18.1 and C-L = 19.5 at.% Co.

WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH2022

Phase and microstructure selection in peritectic alloys under high G-V ratio

Stéphane Dobler, Wilfried Kurz

A new model for the case of a superposition of a phase transformation and a microstructure transition from columnar plane front to equiaxed dendritic growth for peritectic alloys is presented. This model is applied to Fe-Ni alloys where a phase transition from gamma to delta takes place when the solute content decreases. The results of the model are compared with predictions of the nucleation constitutional undercooling model. They show that the peritectic two-(solid) phase region is restricted and may completely disappear depending on nucleation undercooling and dendrite growth kinetics.

WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH2022

Microstructure Selection in Laser Remelted Fe-C-Si Alloys

Philippe Gilgien, Wilfried Kurz

Laser surface remelting at various velocities has been employed to study the selection of microstructures of high-purity Fe-C-Si alloys containing nominally 3.2 to 4.2 wt.% C and 1 to 3 wt.% Si. The microstructure of the remelted region consisted of metastable Fe-Fe3C eutectic (ledeburite) or austenite dendrites, with interdendritic eutectic. Furthermore, ledeburite presents two solid-liquid interface morphologies: planar and cellular. The competition between the austenite dendrites and the ledeburite eutectic as a function of solidification rate has been experimentally determined. The critical velocity which destabilizes the planar Fe-Fe3C eutectic with respect to primary austenite dendrites, was of the order of several mm/s and depends on the initial composition of the alloy. The critical velocity for the destabilization of the eutectic interface leading to two-phase cells was 0.44 mm/s, for the alloy containing 4.2 wt.% C and 1 wt.% Si. Theoretical calculations of the coupled zone have been performed using current microstructure selection models. The results of the simulation were then used to construct a microstructure map which was compared with experimental results.

WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH2021