Alexander Janda, former doctoral student at the Chair of Physical Metallurgy, was awarded for his dissertation, entitled "Alloy and process development of (α+β) titanium alloys for ballistic protection applications" by the Fahrzeugverband Jubiläumsstiftung. In his dissertation, which was carried out in cooperation with voestalpine Böhler Bleche, Mr. Janda focused on the development of innovative material and processing concepts for armored vehicles. Various novel (α+β) titanium alloys were developed for the vehicle body. One advantage of titanium alloys over steel is the comparatively low density of this material, which is noticeable in the agility of the armored vehicle, regardless of the propulsion system used. In addition to material characterization, the investigations also included ballistic firing tests. Deformation tests at extremely high deformation rates, which were conducted in cooperation with a German-French research institute, were particularly important for understanding the material's behavior. Using the material parameters obtained, the interaction between the projectile and the titanium sheet could then be simulated. The award ceremony took place on July 4, 2025 in the auditorium of Graz University of Technology.
