Since 1970s’, Centro Sviluppo Materiali (CSM) S.p.A. has been developing a very large experience and fundamental know-how in the field of ferrous materials and special alloys for high temperature applications, in terms of physical metallurgy, alloy and metallurgical design, advanced microstructural characterisation through up-to-date metallographic and mechanical investigation techniques, through-process metallurgy and structural integrity.
More recently, the wide experience and knowledge of the main production routes and application conditions for power generation and petrochemical plants has driven CSM towards even more demanding research efforts in the field of super alloys and non ferrous materials for applications on aircraft engines and their subsystems, and on materials for very high temperature regimes, including those for ultra high critical power generation units and new generation environmental-friendly combustion engines (i.e., for civil and/or military transport).
From the metallurgical point of view it means to further widen the pre-existing metallurgical culture addressed to understand the micromechanisms for creep and creep fatigue in order to carry out a their better modelisation, as an unavoidable step forwards the development of very top-edge ferritic, ferritic-martensitic and austenitic steels for pipes, tubes, sheet and forged components which are destined to work at 700÷750 °C and over, and the problem-solving actions to them related (e.g., failure analysis on damaged mechanics and structural parts).