In this work, different nanocrystalline metals and alloys were investigated by a synchrotron-based in situ XRD mechanical testing technique in order to investigate the dominant deformation mechanisms. All tested samples show a succession and coexistence of several mechanisms, regardless of grain size, loading condition, or sample geometry. However, the relative shares of the individual mechanisms strongly vary and depend on parameters such as grain size, sample purity, and alloy composition.

Ink-jet printed devices on the flexible substrate are inexpensive and large area compatible as compared to rigid substrates. However, during fabrication and service they are subjected to complex strains, resulting in crack formation or delamination within the layers, affecting the device performance. Therefore, it is necessary to understand their failure mechanisms by correlating their electrical or structural properties with applied strain, supported by detailed microstructural investigations.

Understanding the physical processes during fabrication and annealing of ceramic materials is a long sought goal among material scientists. Using strontium titanate as a model system for perovskite ceramics, the present work combines advanced non-destructive 3D characterization techniques and computational modeling of microstructure evolution in order to link grain morphology, interface anisotropy and microstructure evolution to macroscopic physical properties .

This book investigates the fatigue mechanisms and crack initiation of Ni, Al and Cu on a small-scale in the Very High Cycle Fatigue regime by means of innovative fatigue experimentation. A novel custom-built resonant fatigue setup showed that the sample resonant frequency changes with increasing cycle number due to fatigue damage. Mechanisms such as slip band formation have been observed. Cyclic hardening, vacancy and oxidation formation may be considered as early fatigue mechanisms.

In this work, the first simulation model of oxygen depolarized cathodes (ODC), which are silver catalyst-based gas diffusion electrodes, is presented that considers the phase equilibrium of the gas-liquid interface and structure-related inhomogeneities in electrolyte distribution. By means of the model it has been identified that mass transport of water and ions in the liquid phase is a crucial factor for electrode performance and how it is influenced by the electrode structure.

This work furthers the overall understanding of a 3w-measurement, by considering previously unexamined macroscopic influence factors within measurement by Finite Element simulations (FES). Moreover, new measuring configurations are developed to determine (an)isotropic thermal conductivities of nanoscale samples. Since no analytic solutions are available for these configurations, a new evaluation methodology is presented to determine emergent thermal conductivities by FES and Neural Networks.