TY - JOUR A1 - Roveda, Ilaria A1 - Serrano-Munoz, Itziar A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Madia, Mauro T1 - Investigation of residual stresses and microstructure effects on the fatigue behaviour of a L-PBF AlSi10Mg alloy N2 - Al-Si alloys produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) techniques allow the fabrication of lightweight free-shape components that find space in aerospace, automotive, biomedical and military applications. Due to the high cooling rates occurring during the building process, L-PBF AlSi10Mg alloys exhibit an ultra-fine microstructure that leads to superior mechanical properties in the as-built condition compared to conventional cast Al-Si materials. Nevertheless, L-PBF processing induces high thermal gradients, leading to deleterious residual stress levels that must be considered to avoid part distortion and unpredicted failures. In order to relax detrimental residual stress and to increase the ductility, post-processing stress relief treatments are generally performed. In as-built condition the hypoeutectic AlSi10Mg microstructure consist of fine α-Al cells containing uniformly dispersed silicon nanoparticles, which are, in addition, surrounded by a eutectic Si network. Above 260°C the silicon interconnectivity starts to breakdown into spheroidized particles and to coarsen. At the same time, the heating residual stresses are relieved. The objective of the contribution is to investigate, under different heat treatment conditions, the evolution of microstructure and residual stresses in view of optimizing the fatigue performance of the alloy. To this purpose various heat treatments in a range of temperatures between 265°C and 300°C for a duration between 15 minutes and 2 hours are performed. The microstructure modifications are analysed using a scanning electron microscope and the residual stress state is measured by laboratory X-ray diffraction. T2 - FATIGUE DESIGN 2021 CY - Online meeting DA - 17.11.2021 KW - AlSi10Mg alloy KW - Additive manufacturing KW - L-PBF KW - Residual stress KW - Heat treatment PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-544942 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prostr.2022.03.057 SN - 2452-3216 VL - 38 SP - 564 EP - 571 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-54494 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ferrari, Bruno A1 - Fantin, Andrea A1 - Said, D. A1 - Fitch, A. N. A1 - Suárez Ocano, Patricia A1 - Mishurova, Tatiana A1 - Roveda, Ilaria A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza A1 - Bruno, Giovanni A1 - Evans, Alexander A1 - Requena, G. A1 - Agudo Jácome, Leonardo A1 - Serrano Munoz, Itziar T1 - The impact of scanning strategy on cell structures in PBF-LB/M/IN718: an in situ synchrotron x-ray diffraction study N2 - In additive manufacturing, any change of the process parameters, such as scanning strategy, directly affects the cooling rates, heat accumulation, and overall thermal history of the build. Consequently, parts built with different process parameters tend to have different levels of crystallographic texture, residual stress, and dislocation density. These features can influence the properties of the material and their development during post-processing operations. In this study, IN718 prisms were built by laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) using two different scanning strategies (continuous 67° rotations around the build direction, ROT, and alternating 0°/67° scans, ALT) to provide two different as-built conditions. In situ time-resolved synchrotron diffraction was performed during a solution heat treatment at 1027 °C for 1 h. Ex situ scanning electron microscopy was used to support and complement the in situ observations. An approach to quantify the effect of elemental microsegregation at the cell walls is developed based on the deconvolution of asymmetric γ-nickel matrix peaks. Following this approach, the scanning strategies are shown to affect the as-built fraction of cell walls in the material, resulting in a difference of approximately 5 %, in weight fraction, between ROT and ALT (19 % vs. 24 %, respectively). This microsegregation was observed to be rapidly homogenized during the heating ramp, and no significant changes to the peak shape in the γ peaks occurred during the isothermal part of the heat treatment, regardless of the scanning strategy. KW - Additive manufacturing KW - Inconel 718 KW - Synchrotron x-ray diffraction KW - Heat treatment KW - Laser powder bed fusion KW - Cellular microstructure PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-650958 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2025.11.214 SN - 2238-7854 VL - 41 SP - 593 EP - 608 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-65095 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schröder, Jakob A1 - Evans, Alexander A1 - Luzin, V. A1 - Abreu Faria, G. A1 - Degener, Sebastian A1 - Polatidis, E. A1 - Čapek, J. A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Dovzhenko, G. A1 - Bruno, Giovanni T1 - Texture-based residual stress analysis of laser powder bed fused Inconel 718 parts N2 - Although layer-based additive manufacturing methods such as laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) offer an immense geometrical freedom in design, they are typically subject to a build-up of internal stress (i.e. thermal stress) during manufacturing. As a consequence, significant residual stress (RS) is retained in the final part as a footprint of these internal stresses. Furthermore, localized melting and solidification inherently induce columnar-type grain growth accompanied by crystallographic texture. Although diffraction-based methods are commonly used to determine the RS distribution in PBF-LB parts, such features pose metrological challenges in their application. In theory, preferred grain orientation invalidates the hypothesis of isotropic material behavior underlying the common methods to determine RS. In this work, more refined methods are employed to determine RS in PBF-LB/M/IN718 prisms, based on crystallographic texture data. In fact, the employment of direction-dependent elastic constants (i.e. stress factors) for the calculation of RS results in insignificant differences from conventional approaches based on the hypothesis of isotropic mechanical properties. It can be concluded that this result is directly linked to the fact that the {311} lattice planes typically used for RS analysis in nickel-based alloys have high multiplicity and less strong texture intensities compared with other lattice planes. It is also found that the length of the laser scan vectors determines the surface RS distribution in prisms prior to their removal from the baseplate. On removal from the baseplate the surface RS considerably relaxes and/or redistributes; a combination of the geometry and the scanning strategy dictates the sub-surface RS distribution. KW - Additive manufacturing KW - Electron backscattered diffraction KW - Principal stress KW - Residual stress PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-578331 DO - https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600576723004855 SN - 1600-5767 VL - 56 IS - Pt 4 SP - 1076 EP - 1090 AN - OPUS4-57833 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sprengel, Maximilian A1 - Mohr, Gunther A1 - Altenburg, Simon A1 - Evans, Alexander A1 - Serrano-Munoz, Itziar A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Pirling, T. A1 - Bruno, Giovanni A1 - Kannengießer, Thomas T1 - Triaxial Residual Stress in Laser Powder Bed Fused 316L: Effects of Interlayer Time and Scanning Velocity N2 - The triaxial distribution of the residual stress in laser powder bed fused austenitic steel 316L was determined by X-ray and neutron diffraction. The residual stress analysis results were linked to the thermal history of the specimens, which were manufactured with varying inter-layer-times and scanning velocities. A clear link between the in-process temperature of the specimens and the residual stress was found, based on in-situ monitoring data. KW - Stainless Steel KW - AGIL KW - Residual Stress KW - X-ray and Neutron Diffraction KW - Additive Manufacturing PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-542620 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202101330 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Wiley-VCH GmbH AN - OPUS4-54262 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Serrano-Munoz, Itziar A1 - Mishurova, Tatiana A1 - Thiede, Tobias A1 - Sprengel, Maximilian A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Nadammal, Naresh A1 - Nolze, Gert A1 - Saliwan Neumann, Romeo A1 - Evans, Alexander A1 - Bruno, Giovanni T1 - The residual stress in as‑built Laser Powder Bed Fusion IN718 alloy as a consequence of the scanning strategy induced microstructure N2 - The effect of two types of scanning strategies on the grain structure and build-up of Residual Stress (RS) has been investigated in an as-built IN718 alloy produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF). The RS state has been investigated by X-ray diffraction techniques. The microstructural characterization was performed principally by Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD), where the application of a post-measurement refinement technique enables small misorientations (< 2°) to be resolved. Kernel average misorientation (KAM) distributions indicate that preferably oriented columnar grains contain higher levels of misorientation, when compared to elongated grains with lower texture. The KAM distributions combined with X-ray diffraction stress maps infer that the increased misorientation is induced via plastic deformation driven by the thermal stresses, acting to self-relieve stress. The possibility of obtaining lower RS states in the build direction as a consequence of the influence of the microstructure should be considered when envisaging scanning strategies aimed at the mitigation of RS. KW - Additive manufacturing KW - LPBF KW - Residual stress KW - Inconel 718 KW - Kernel average misorientation KW - Texture PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-511769 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71112-9 VL - 10 IS - 1 SP - 14645 AN - OPUS4-51176 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Serrano-Munoz, Itziar A1 - Fritsch, Tobias A1 - Mishurova, Tatiana A1 - Trofimov, Anton A1 - Apel, D. A1 - Ulbricht, Alexander A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Hesse, René A1 - Evans, Alexander A1 - Bruno, Giovanni T1 - On the interplay of microstructure and residual stress in LPBF IN718 N2 - The relationship between residual stresses and microstructure associated with a laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) IN718 alloy has been investigated on specimens produced with three different scanning strategies (unidirectional Y-scan, 90° XY-scan, and 67° Rot-scan). Synchrotron X-ray energy-dispersive diffraction (EDXRD) combined with optical profilometry was used to study residual stress (RS) distribution and distortion upon removal of the specimens from the baseplate. The microstructural characterization of both the bulk and the nearsurface regions was conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). On the top surfaces of the specimens, the highest RS values are observed in the Y-scan specimen and the lowest in the Rot-scan specimen, while the tendency is inversed on the side lateral surfaces. A considerable amount of RS remains in the specimens after their removal from the baseplate, especially in the Y- and Z-direction (short specimen Dimension and building direction (BD), respectively). The distortion measured on the top surface following baseplate thinning and subsequent removal is mainly attributed to the amount of RS released in the build direction. Importantly, it is observed that the additive manufacturing microstructures challenge the use of classic theoretical models for the calculation of diffraction elastic constants (DEC) required for diffraction-based RS analysis. It is found that when the Reuß model is used for the calculation of RS for different crystal planes, as opposed to the conventionally used Kröner model, the results exhibit lower scatter. This is discussed in context of experimental measurements of DEC available in the literature for conventional and additively manufactured Ni-base alloys. KW - L-PBF IN718 material KW - Effect of scanning strategies KW - Near-surface X-ray diffraction KW - Residual stress in AM KW - Distortion upon baseplate removal PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-519460 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05553-y SN - 0022-2461 VL - 56 IS - 9 SP - 5845 EP - 5867 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-51946 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Serrano-Munoz, Itziar A1 - Ulbricht, Alexander A1 - Fritsch, Tobias A1 - Mishurova, Tatiana A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Hofmann, M. A1 - Wimpory, R. C. A1 - Evans, Alexander A1 - Bruno, Giovanni T1 - Scanning Manufacturing Parameters Determining the Residual Stress State in LPBF IN718 Small Parts N2 - The influence of scan strategy on the residual stress (RS) state of an as-built IN718 alloy produced by means of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is investigated. Two scan vector rotations (90°-alternation and 67°-rotation), each produced following two different scan vector lengths (long and short), are used to manufacture four rectangular prisms. Neutron diffraction (ND) and laboratory X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques are used to map the bulk and surface RS state, respectively. The distortion induced upon removal from the baseplate is measured via profilometry. XRD measurements show that the two long scan vector strategies lead to higher RS when compared with the equivalent short scan vector strategies. Also, the 67°-rotation strategies generate lower RS than their 90°-alternation counterparts. Due to the lack of reliable stress-free d0 references, the ND results are analyzed using von Mises stress. In general, ND results show significant RS spatial non-uniformity. A comparison between ND and distortion results indicates that the RS component parallel to the building direction (Z-axis) has a predominant role in the Z-displacement. The use of a stress balance scheme allows to discuss the d0 variability along the length of the specimens, as well as examine the absolute RS state. KW - As-built LPBF IN718 alloy KW - Scan strategy influence KW - Neutron diffraction KW - Residual stress state KW - Stress balance condition KW - Distortion PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-526360 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202100158 VL - 23 IS - 7 SP - 158 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-52636 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Serrano-Munoz, Itziar A1 - Evans, Alexander A1 - Mishurova, Tatiana A1 - Sprengel, Maximilian A1 - Pirling, T. A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Bruno, Giovanni T1 - The importance of subsurface residual stress in laser powder bed fusion IN718 N2 - The residual stress (RS) in laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) IN718 alloy samples produced using a 67°-rotation scan strategy is investigated via laboratory X-ray diffraction (XRD) and neutron diffraction (ND). The location dependence of the strain-free (d₀) lattice spacing in ND is evaluated using a grid array of coupons extracted from the far-edge of the investigated specimen. No compositional spatial variation is observed in the grid array. The calculated RS fields show considerable non-uniformity, significant stress gradients in the region from 0.6 to 2 mm below the surface, as well as subsurface maxima that cannot be accounted for via XRD. It is concluded that failure to determine such maxima would hamper a quantitative determination of RS fields by means of the stress balance method. KW - Laser powder bed fusion KW - Neutron and X-ray diffraction KW - Residual stress analysis KW - Strain-free lattice references KW - Stress balance PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-532707 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202100895 SN - 1615-7508 SN - 1527-2648 VL - 24 IS - 6 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-53270 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bruno, Giovanni A1 - Mishurova, Tatiana A1 - Serrano-Munoz, Itziar A1 - Ulbricht, Alexander A1 - Fritsch, Tobias A1 - Sprengel, Maximilian A1 - Evans, Alexander A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Madia, Mauro ED - Bruno, Giovanni T1 - A Critical Discussion on the Diffraction-Based Experimental Determination of Residual Stress in AM Parts N2 - As opposed to reviewing results on experimental determination of residual stress by diffraction, this paper discusses the open issues when dealing with residual stress determination in additive manufactured parts, in particular those manufactured with laser powder bed fusion techniques. Three points are addressed in detail: (a) the proper determination of the strain-free reference d0, (b) the problem of the determination of the principal axes, and (c) the use of the correct diffraction elastic constants. It is shown that all methods to determine the strain-free reference d0 suffer from caveats, and care must be taken in evaluating the most suitable for the problem being tackled. In addition, it is shown that, in some systems, the principal axes do correspond to the geometrical axes of the specimen, but this needs to be systematically checked, especially in the case of uni- or bidirectional hatching strategies. Finally, the need to experimentally determine the proper diffraction elastic constants is underlined, especially in the case of strongly textured specimens, which again depends on the deposition strategy. T2 - ASTM ICAM 2020 – ASTM International Conference on Additive Manufacturing CY - Online meeting DA - 16.11.2020 KW - Additive Manufacturing KW - Diffraction KW - Residual Stress PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1520/STP163120190148 VL - STP1631 SP - 122 EP - 138 PB - ASTM International CY - USA AN - OPUS4-51347 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sprengel, Maximilian A1 - Ulbricht, Alexander A1 - Evans, Alexander A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Sommer, Konstantin A1 - Werner, Tiago A1 - Kelleher, J. A1 - Bruno, Giovanni A1 - Kannengießer, Thomas T1 - Towards the optimization of post-laser powder bed fusion stress-relieve treatments of stainless steel 316L N2 - This study reports on the stress relaxation potential of stress-relieving heat treatments for laser powder bed fused 316L. The residual stress is monitored non-destructively using neutron diffraction before and after the heat treatment. Moreover, the evolution of the microstructure is analysed using scanning electron microscopy. The results show, that a strong relaxation of the residual stress is obtained when applying a heat treatment temperature at 900°C. However, the loss of the cellular substructure needs to be considered when applying this heat treatment strategy. KW - Residual stress KW - Additive manufacturing KW - Neutron diffraction KW - Projekt AGIL - Alterung additiv gefertigter metallischer Materialien und Komponenten PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-536045 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-021-06472-6 SN - 1543-1940 VL - 52 IS - 12 SP - 5342 EP - 5356 PB - Springer CY - Boston AN - OPUS4-53604 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nadammal, Naresh A1 - Mishurova, Tatiana A1 - Fritsch, Tobias A1 - Serrano-Munoz, Itziar A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Haberland, C. A1 - Portella, Pedro Dolabella A1 - Bruno, Giovanni T1 - Critical role of scan strategies on the development of microstructure, texture, and residual stresses during laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing N2 - Laser based powder bed fusion additive manufacturing offers the flexibility to incorporate standard and userdefined scan strategies in a layer or in between the layers for the customized fabrication of metallic components. In the present study, four different scan strategies and their impact on the development of microstructure, texture, and residual stresses in laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing of a nickel-based superalloy Inconel 718 was investigated. Light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy combined with electron backscatter diffraction, and neutron diffraction were used as the characterization tools. Strong textures with epitaxially grown columnar grains were observed along the build direction for the two individual scan strategies. Patterns depicting the respective scan strategies were visible in the build plane, which dictated the microstructure development in the other planes. An alternating strategy combining the individual strategies in the successive layers and a 67◦ rotational strategy weakened the texture by forming finer microstructural features. Von Mises equivalent stress plots revealed lower stress values and gradients, which translates as lower distortions for the alternating and rotational strategies. Overall results confirmed the scope for manipulating the microstructure, texture, and residual stresses during laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing by effectively controlling the scan strategies. KW - Additive manufacturing KW - Laser powder bed fusion KW - Nickel-based superalloys KW - Scan strategies KW - Residual stresses KW - Microstructure and texture PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2020.101792 VL - 38 SP - 1792 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-51944 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schröder, Jakob A1 - Evans, Alexander A1 - Mishurova, Tatiana A1 - Ulbricht, Alexander A1 - Sprengel, Maximilian A1 - Serrano-Munoz, Itziar A1 - Fritsch, Tobias A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Kannengießer, Thomas A1 - Bruno, Giovanni T1 - Diffraction-Based Residual Stress Characterization in Laser Additive Manufacturing of Metals N2 - Laser-based additive manufacturing methods allow the production of complex metal structures within a single manufacturing step. However, the localized heat input and the layer-wise manufacturing manner give rise to large thermal gradients. Therefore, large internal stress (IS) during the process (and consequently residual stress (RS) at the end of production) is generated within the parts. This IS or RS can either lead to distortion or cracking during fabrication or in-service part failure, respectively. With this in view, the knowledge on the magnitude and spatial distribution of RS is important to develop strategies for its mitigation. Specifically, diffraction-based methods allow the spatial resolved determination of RS in a non-destructive fashion. In this review, common diffraction-based methods to determine RS in laser-based additive manufactured parts are presented. In fact, the unique microstructures and textures associated to laser-based additive manufacturing processes pose metrological challenges. Based on the literature review, it is recommended to (a) use mechanically relaxed samples measured in several orientations as appropriate strain-free lattice spacing, instead of powder, (b) consider that an appropriate grain-interaction model to calculate diffraction-elastic constants is both material- and texture-dependent and may differ from the conventionally manufactured variant. Further metrological challenges are critically reviewed and future demands in this research field are discussed. KW - Laser-based additive manufacturing KW - Residual stress analysis KW - X-ray and neutron diffraction KW - Diffraction-elastic constants KW - Strain-free lattice spacing PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-538054 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/met11111830 VL - 11 IS - 11 SP - 1830 PB - MPDI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-53805 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Serrano-Munoz, Itziar A1 - Pfretzschner, Beate A1 - Kromm, Arne A1 - Nadammal, Naresh A1 - Kardjilov, N. A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Neuwirth, T. A1 - Schulz, M. A1 - Griesche, Axel T1 - High-resolution Bragg-edge neutron radiography detects grain morphology in PBF-LB/M IN718 N2 - One of the main advantages of metal additive manufacturing (MAM) techniques is their ability to produce components with site-specific microstructural features. Nevertheless, microstructural defects and lack of repeatability are still major concerns in MAM. In this study, a laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) IN718 material, produced using two different scan length vectors, is investigated using Bragg-edge neutron 2D imaging (BENI) combined with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis. BENI is able to detect, on a macroscopic scale, process-induced changes in texture in a large field of view covering the entire sample (20×80 mm2). In addition, high-resolution BENI (HR-BENI), with a pixel size of 12.8 µm, provides a micro-scale examination of the local variations of texture and grain morphology, otherwise undistinguishable using the standard resolution. As such, HR-BENI offers a straightforward and detailed way of screening the integrity of MAM parts at cm-length scales. KW - Bragg-edge neutron 2D imaging (BENI) KW - Metal additive manufacturing (MAM) KW - IN718 PBF-LB/M KW - Crystallographic texture control KW - Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtla.2023.101827 SN - 2589-1529 VL - 30 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-57819 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -