TY - GEN A1 - Wang, Lei A1 - Hoyt, J. J. T1 - Corrigendum to ‘Layering misalignment and negative temperature dependence of interfacial free energy of B2-liquid interfaces in a glass forming system’ [Acta Mater. 219 (2021) 117259] N2 - The authors regret that one funding number was missing. LW acknowledges financial supports from project DA 1655/1-2 within the SPP 1713 program by DFG. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. KW - Missing acknowledgment KW - Glass forming KW - Solidification PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2021.117525 VL - 219 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-54083 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Xing, H. A1 - Jing, H. A1 - Dong, X. A1 - Wang, Lei A1 - Han, Y. A1 - Hu, R. T1 - Cellular growth during rapid directional solidification: Insights from quantitative phase field simulations N2 - In this paper, columnar cellular growth with kinetic effects including kinetic undercooling and solute trapping in rapid directional solidification of alloys was investigated by using a recent quantitative phase-field model for rapid solidification. Morphological transition and primary spacing selection with and without kinetic effects were numerically investigated. Numerical results show that doublon structure is an intermediate state in the primary spacing adjustment of cellular arrays. It was found that the inclusions of kinetic effects result in the increase of the solute in the solid phase and the solute enrichment in the interdendritic liquid channel. Moreover, predicted results indicate that the growth directions of the cellular arrays in rapid directional solidification with and without kinetic effects are independent of the Péclet number. Therefore, the kinetic effects play important roles in numerical simulations of the growth pattern selection and solute distribution during rapid solidification. Neglecting them will result in the inaccurately predicted results. KW - Rapid solidification KW - Phase-field model PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2022.103170 VL - 30 SP - 103170 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-54571 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Zapala, P. A1 - Abel, Andreas A1 - Michels, H. A1 - Skrotzki, Birgit T1 - Werkstoffanwendungen für Eisenaluminide (FeAl), (WAFEAL) N2 - Die zunehmende geopolitische Bedeutung der Ressourcenverfügbarkeit sowie die Anforderungen an einen geschlossenen Materialkreislauf treiben die Materialforschung voran, um konventionelle Werkstoffe mit weniger kritischen Zusätzen zu legieren oder sogar vollständig mit nachhaltigeren Alternativen zu substituieren. Eine potenzielle Alternative stellen die intermetallischen Eisenaluminid-Legierungen (FeAl) dar. Im Labormaßstab wurden bereits viele Legierungskonzepte für verbesserte Hochtempera- tureigenschaften oder Duktilität erfolgreich gießtechnisch umgesetzt. Eine erfolgreiche Erprobung von FeAl-Legierungen im industriellen Maßstab stand zu Beginn des Projekts aber weiterhin aus. Ziel des Vorhabens war daher die Entwicklung von simulationsgestützten Gießkonzepten in industrienahe Gießprozesse anhand der Modelllegierung Fe-26Al-4Mo-0,5Ti-1B und die Eingrenzung der prozesstechnischen Verfahrensgrenzen durch Warmrissversuche. Erkenntnisse hieraus wurden in einen praxisorientierten, für zukünftige Anwender in KMUs zugänglichen Handlungskatalog für die gießgerechte Auslegung von Bauteilen aus Eisenaluminiden überführt. Fokus wurde insbesondere auf das Feinguss- und Kokillengussverfahren im Schleuderguss gesetzt. Neben zahlreicher Konstruktions- und Gießprozessparameter wurden auch Wärmebehandlungen und Legierungszusätze (Al, Mo, B) variiert, um den Einfluss von Legierungselementen auf Gießbarkeit, Mikrostruktur und mechanische Kennwerte zu be- stimmen. Eine umfangreiche Basis an Daten aus Mikrostrukturanalysen (Mikroskopische Bildgebung, Bestimmung von Korngrößen sowie Phasenzusammensetzungen und -anteilen, Fraktographie), mechanischen Tests (Härtemessungen, Druckversuch, Zugversuch, Warmzugversuch, Kriechversuch) sowie Messungen thermophysikalischer Eigenschaften konnte für die Modelllegierung erzeugt werden. Korrelationen dieser Informationen mit Prozessvariablen erlaubten Schlussfolgerungen zu Härtungsmechanismen und Duktilität in der Legierung und wie sie prozesstechnisch in Gieß- und Bauteilauslegung gesteuert werden können. Der erfolgreiche Abguss von hochkomplexen Bauteilgeometrien mit dünnen Wandstärken sowie optimierte Legierungszusammensetzungen zeigen Perspektiven auf neue Anwendungsfelder auf. Das Ziel des Forschungsvorhabens ist erreicht worden. KW - Simulationsgestützte Gießkonzepte KW - Intermetallische FeAl-Legierungen PY - 2023 IS - 1322 SP - 1 EP - 168 PB - Forschungsvereinigung Verbrennungskraftmaschinen (FVV) CY - Frankfurt am Main AN - OPUS4-56932 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhou, X. A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza A1 - Boyce, B.L. A1 - Clark, B.G. A1 - Raabe, D. A1 - Thompson, G.B. T1 - Spinodal Decomposition in Nanocrystalline Alloys N2 - For more than half a century, spinodal decomposition has been a key phenomenon in considering the formation of secondary phases in alloys. The most prominent aspect of the spinodal phenomenon is the lack of an energy barrier on its transformation pathway, offering an alternative to the nucleation and growth mechanism. The classical description of spinodal decomposition often neglects the influence of defects, such as grain boundaries, on the transformation because the innate ability for like-atoms to cluster is assumed to lead the process. Nevertheless, in nanocrystalline alloys, with a high population of grain boundaries with diverse characters, the structurally heterogeneous landscape can greatly influence the chemical decomposition behavior. Combining atom-probe tomography, precession electron diffraction and density-based phase-field simulations, we address how grain boundaries contribute to the temporal evolution of chemical decomposition within the miscibility gap of a Pt-Au nanocrystalline system. We found that grain boundaries can actually have their own miscibility gaps profoundly altering the spinodal decomposition in nanocrystalline alloys. A complex realm of multiple interfacial states, ranging from competitive grain boundary segregation to barrier-free low-dimensional interfacial decomposition, occurs with a dependency upon the grain boundary character. KW - Density-based Thermodynamics KW - Nanocrystalline alloys KW - Spinodal decomposition KW - Defects engineering PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2021.117054 VL - 215 SP - 117054 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-52918 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhou, X. A1 - Wei, Y. A1 - Kühbach, M. A1 - Zhao, H. A1 - Vogel, F. A1 - Darvishi Kamachali, Reza A1 - Thompson, G. B. A1 - Raabe, D. A1 - Gault, B. T1 - Revealing in-plane grain boundary composition features through machine learning from atom probe tomography data N2 - Grain boundaries (GBs) are planar lattice defects that govern the properties of many types of polycrystalline materials. Hence, their structures have been investigated in great detail. However, much less is known about their chemical features, owing to the experimental difficulties to probe these features at the atomic length scale inside bulk material specimens. Atom probe tomography (APT) is a tool capable of accomplishing this task, with an ability to quantify chemical characteristics at near-atomic scale. Using APT data sets, we present here a machine-learning-based approach for the automated quantification of chemical features of GBs. We trained a convolutional neural network (CNN) using twenty thousand synthesized images of grain interiors, GBs, or triple junctions. Such a trained CNN automatically detects the locations of GBs from APT data. Those GBs are then subjected to compositional mapping and analysis, including revealing their in-plane chemical decoration patterns. We applied this approach to experimentally obtained APT data sets pertaining to three case studies, namely, Ni-P, Pt-Au, and Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys. In the first case, we extracted GB specific segregation features as a function of misorientation and coincidence site lattice character. Secondly, we revealed interfacial excesses and in-plane chemical features that could not have been found by standard compositional analyses. Lastly, we tracked the temporal evolution of chemical decoration from early-stage solute GB segregation in the dilute limit to interfacial phase separation, characterized by the evolution of complex composition patterns. This machine-learning-based approach provides quantitative, unbiased, and automated access to GB chemical analyses, serving as an enabling tool for new discoveries related to interface thermodynamics, kinetics, and the associated chemistry-structure-property relations. KW - Machine learning KW - Digitalization KW - Alloy microstructure PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-543049 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2022.117633 SN - 1359-6454 VL - 226 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-54304 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zia, Ghezal Ahmad Jan A1 - Hanke, Thomas A1 - Skrotzki, Birgit A1 - Völker, Christoph A1 - Bayerlein, Bernd T1 - Enhancing Reproducibility in Precipitate Analysis: A FAIR Approach with Automated Dark-Field Transmission Electron Microscope Image Processing N2 - AbstractHigh-strength aluminum alloys used in aerospace and automotive applications obtain their strength through precipitation hardening. Achieving the desired mechanical properties requires precise control over the nanometer-sized precipitates. However, the microstructure of these alloys changes over time due to aging, leading to a deterioration in strength. Typically, the size, number, and distribution of precipitates for a quantitative assessment of microstructural changes are determined by manual analysis, which is subjective and time-consuming. In our work, we introduce a progressive and automatable approach that enables a more efficient, objective, and reproducible analysis of precipitates. The method involves several sequential steps using an image repository containing dark-field transmission electron microscopy (DF-TEM) images depicting various aging states of an aluminum alloy. During the process, precipitation contours are generated and quantitatively evaluated, and the results are comprehensibly transferred into semantic data structures. The use and deployment of Jupyter Notebooks, along with the beneficial implementation of Semantic Web technologies, significantly enhances the reproducibility and comparability of the findings. This work serves as an exemplar of FAIR image and research data management. KW - Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering KW - General Materials Science KW - Automated image analysis KW - FAIR research data management KW - Reproducibility KW - microstructural changes PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-593905 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40192-023-00331-5 SN - 2193-9772 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC CY - Heidelberg AN - OPUS4-59390 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ávila Calderón, Luis Alexander A1 - Rehmer, Birgit A1 - Graf, B. A1 - Ulbricht, Alexander A1 - Skrotzki, Birgit A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Low cycle fatigue behavior of DED-L Ti-6AL-4V N2 - Laser powder-based directed energy deposition (DED-L) is a technology that offers the possibility for 3D material deposition over hundreds of layers and has thus the potential for application in additive manufacturing (AM). However, to achieve broad industrial application as AM technology, more data and knowledge about the fabricated materials regarding the achieved properties and their relationship to the manufacturing process and the resulting microstructure is still needed. In this work, we present data regarding the low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior of Ti-6Al-4V. The material was fabricated using an optimized DED-L process. It features a low defect population and excellent tensile properties. To assess its LCF behavior two conventionally manufactured variants of the same alloy featuring different microstructures were additionally tested. The strain-controlled LCF tests were carried out in fully reversed mode with 0.3 % to 1.0 % axial strain amplitude from room temperature up to 400°C. The LCF behavior and failure mechanisms are described. For characterization, optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and micro-computed tomography (µCT) were used. The low defect population allows for a better understanding of the intrinsic material’s properties and enables a fairer comparison against the conventional variants. The fatigue lifetimes of the DED-L material are nearly independent of the test temperature. At elevated test temperatures, they are similar or higher than the lifetimes of the conventional counterparts. At room temperature, they are only surpassed by the lifetimes of one of them. The principal failure mechanism involves multiple crack initiation sites. T2 - Ninth International Conference on Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF9) CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 21.06.2022 KW - AGIL KW - Additive Manufacturing KW - Ti-6Al-4V KW - Low-Cycle-Fatigue KW - Microstructure PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-55123 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ávila Calderón, Luis Alexander T1 - Creep behavior and microstructural evolution of LPBF 316L N2 - This presentation shows some experimental results of the characterization of the creep behavior of LPBF 316L, which has been poorly studied and understood to date. The presentation includes results regarding the mechanical properties, the initial microstructural state and its evolution under loading, and the damage mechanism. This work was done within the BAM focus area materials project AGIL. As a benchmark to assess the material properties of the LPBF 316L, a conventionally manufactured variant was also tested. T2 - 2nd Workshop on In-situ Monitoring and Microstructure Development in Additive Manufactured alloys at BAM CY - Online Meeting DA - 19.04.2021 KW - 316L KW - Additive Manufacturing KW - Creep behavior PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52682 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ávila Calderón, Luis Alexander T1 - Mechanical behaviour of AM metals: Creep of LPBF 316L and low-cycle-fatigue of LMD Ti-6Al-4V N2 - Additively manufactured metallic materials have already started to find application in safety-relevant components. However, this has only happened for certain materials and specific applications and loading conditions, since there is still an extensive lack of knowledge as well as of historical data regarding their mechanical behaviour. This contribution aims to address this lack of understanding and historical data concerning the creep behaviour of the austenitic stainless steel 316L manufactured by Laser-Powder-Bed-Fusion (L-PBF) and the low-cycle-fatigue behaviour of the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V manufactured by Laser-Metal-Deposition (LMD). Furthermore, it aims to assess their mechanical behaviour against their conventional counterparts. With that in mind, specimens from conventional and additive materials are tested and their mechanical behaviour analysed based on characteristic curves. To understand the damage behaviours the materials are characterized by destructive and non-destructive techniques before and after failure. T2 - 1st Workshop on In-situ Monitoring and Microstructure Development in Additive Manufacturing CY - Online Meeting DA - 10.12.2020 KW - Ti-6Al-4V KW - 316L KW - Additive manufacturing KW - Creep behaviour KW - Low-cycle-fatigue behaviour PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51879 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - THES A1 - Ávila Calderón, Luis Alexander T1 - Mechanisches Verhalten von additiv gefertigtem nichtrostendem Stahl X2CrNiMo17-12-2 (AISI 316L) und Vergleich zur konventionell gefertigten Variante T1 - Mechanical behavior of additively manufactured stainless steel X2CrNiMo17-12-2 (AISI 316L) and comparison with a conventionally manufactured variant N2 - Die additive Fertigung (AM) metallischer Werkstoffe ist eine Technologie, die zunehmend Gegenstand von Forschungsaktivitäten und industrieller Anwendung ist. Dennoch steht sie noch vor Herausforderungen, um eine breite Nutzung in sicherheitsrelevanten Anwendungen zu erreichen. Die Hauptgründe für die Verzögerung des technologischen Durchbruchs zugunsten von AM-Metallen gegenüber konventionell hergestellten Varianten sind das Fehlen eines tieferen Verständnisses der Prozess-Struktur-Eigenschafts-Beziehungen und die begrenzte Verfügbarkeit von Daten zu den Materialeigenschaften. In diesem Kontext stellt diese Arbeit einen Beitrag sowohl zum Verständnis der Prozess-Struktur-Eigenschafts-Beziehungen als auch zur Verbesserung der Datenlage von 316L dar, einem häufig als Konstruktionswerkstoff in verschiedenen Hochtemperaturbauteilen verwendeten Werkstoff. Die Arbeit legt den Fokus auf die mittels Laser-Pulverbettschmelzen hergestellte Werkstoffvariante, PBF-LB/M/316L. Eine konventionell hergestellte Variante, HR/316L, wurde auch untersucht. Bei PBF-LB/M/316L wurde zusätzlich der Effekt ausgewählter Wärmebehandlungen ausgewertet. Die Untersuchung umfasste die Charakterisierung der mechanischen Eigenschaften und der Verformungs- und Schädigungsmechanismen bei erhöhten Prüftemperaturen bei LCF und Kriechen, wo die Daten und Wissenslage am spärlichsten ist. Außerdem hat die untersuchte PBF-LB/M/316L-Wersktoffvariante einen geringen Porositätsgrad. Somit hat diese Arbeit die Mikrostruktur stärker in den Fokus genommen als die meisten bisher in der Literatur verfügbaren Studien. Die mechanische Prüfkampagne umfasste Zugversuche zwischen Raumtemperatur und 650 °C, LCF-Versuche zwischen Raumtemperatur und 600 °C sowie Kriechversuche bei 600 °C und 650 °C. In Ermangelung konkreter Richtlinien und Normen wurde die Charakterisierung zumeist anhand der bestehenden internationalen Prüfnormen und Probengeometrien durchgeführt. Aus jedem dieser Prüfverfahren wurden die entsprechenden Festigkeits- und Verformungskennwerte ermittelt. Darüber hinaus wurde mit Hilfe gezielter mikrostruktureller Untersuchungen ein Beitrag zum Verständnis des Zusammenhangs zwischen der Mikrostruktur und den mechanischen Eigenschaften in Bezug auf die Verformungs- und Schädigungsmechanismen geleistet. Die Dehngrenze von PBF-LB/M/316L ist etwa doppelt so hoch wie die von HR/316L und dieser Trend setzt sich mit ansteigender Prüftemperatur fort. Die Bruchdehnung ist bei allen Prüftemperaturen geringer. PBF-LB/M/316L weist über den größten Teil der Ermüdungslebensdauer vor allem bei Raumtemperatur höhere zyklische Spannungen als HR/316L auf. Ausschließlich bei den kleinsten Dehnungs-schwingbreiten sind die Ermüdungslebensdauer ausgeprägt kürzer. Das Wechselverformungsverhalten von PBF-LB/M/316L ist durch eine Anfangsverfestigung gefolgt von einer kontinuierlichen Entfestigung charakterisiert, welche bis zum Auftreten der zum Versagen führenden Entfestigung stattfindet. Die Kriechbruchzeiten und die Dauer jeder Kriechphase sind bei allen Kombinationen von Prüfparametern bei PBF-LB/M/316 kürzer als bei HR/316L. Die Spannungsabhängigkeit von PBF-LB/M/316L ist im Vergleich zu HR/316L geringer und die Duktilität beim Kriechen kleiner. Die minimale Kriechrate wird bei allen geprüften Parameterkombinationen bei deutlich geringeren Kriechdehnungen erreicht. Eine Wärmebehandlung bei 450 °C / 4 h bewirkt keine wesentliche Änderungen der Mikrostruktur und Zugversuchseigenschaften. Eine zusätzliche Wärmebehandlung bei 900 °C / 1 h verursacht eine Abnahme der Dehngrenze des PBF-LB/M/316L. Diese blieb aber immer noch um den Faktor 1,5x höher als bei HR/316L. Die Verformungsmerkmale wurden kaum davon beeinflusst. Bezüglich des Kriechverhaltens hat die Wärmebehandlung bei 900 °C / 1 h längere sekundäre und tertiäre Kriechstadien bewirkt und die Kriechdehnung hat sich signifikant erhöht. Die Bruchbilder unterscheiden sich generell nicht nur aber vor allem mit ansteigender Prüftemperatur, bei der bei PBF-LB/M/316L oft interkristalline Rissbildung beobachtet wurde. Die Zellstruktur trägt als der Hauptfaktor zu den unterschiedlichen mechanischen Eigenschaften im Vergleich zur HR/316L-Variante bei. Darüber hinaus spielen mutmaßlich die Kornmorphologie, die Stapelfehlerenergie und der Stickstoffgehalt eine Rolle. N2 - Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is a technology that is increasingly the subject of research activities and industrial applications. However, it still faces challenges to achieve widespread use in safety-relevant applications. The main reasons for the delay of this technological breakthrough in favor of AM metals over conventionally manufactured variants are the lack of a deeper understanding of process-structure-property relationships and the limited availability of data on material properties. In this context, this work contributes to both achieving a better understanding of process-structure-property relationships and the improvement of data for 316L, an alloy frequently used as a structural material in various high-temperature components. The work focuses on a material variant produced by laser pow-der bed fusion, PBF-LB/M/316L. A conventionally produced variant, HR/316L, was also investigated. For PBF-LB/M/316L, the effect of selected heat treatments was also evaluated. The investigation included the characterization of the mechanical properties and the related deformation and damage mechanisms at elevated test temperatures in LCF and creep, where data and knowledge are scarce. The PBF-LB/M/316L variant studied has a low degree of porosity. Thus, this work is more focused on the microstructure than most studies available in the literature. The mechanical test campaign included tensile tests between room temperature and 650 °C, LCF tests between room temperature and 600 °C, and creep tests at 600 °C and 650 °C. In the absence of concrete guidelines and standards for testing of AM metals, the characterization mostly took place using existing international test standards and specimen geometries. From each of the test methods, corresponding strength, and deformation characteristic values were determined. In addition, targeted microstructural investigations contributed to understanding the relationship between the microstructure and the mechanical properties in terms of deformation and damage mechanisms. The proof stress of PBF-LB/M/316L is about twice that of HR/316L. This trend remains with increasing test temperature. The elongation after fracture is lower at all test temperatures. Regarding LCF, PBF-LB/M/316L exhibits higher cyclic stresses than HR/316L for most of the fatigue life, especially at room temperature. Exclusively at the smallest strain amplitudes, the fatigue lives of PBF-LB/M/316L are markedly shorter than in HR/316L. The cyclic stress-strain deformation behavior of PBF-LB/M/316L features an initial strain hardening followed by a continuous softening, which occurs until the softening leading to failure takes place. The creep rupture times and the duration of each creep stage are shorter for PBF-LB/M/316 than for HR/316L for all combinations of test parameters. The stress dependence of PBF-LB/M/316L is lower, and the creep ductility is smaller compared to HR/316L. The minimum creep rate is reached at significantly lower creep extensions for all parameter combinations tested. A heat treatment at 450 °C / 4 h did not cause significant changes in the microstructure and tensile behavior. An additional heat treatment at 900 °C / 1 h caused a decrease in the proof stress of PBF-LB/M/316L. However, it still remained higher than the one of HR/316L by a factor of 1.5x. The deformation characteristics were hardly affected. Regarding the creep behavior, this latter heat treatment at 900 °C / 1 h caused longer secondary and tertiary creep stages, and the creep strain increased significantly. The fracture characteristics generally differed, which happened not only but especially with increasing test temperature, where intergranular cracking often took place in PBF-LB/M/316L. The cellular structure is considered the main factor contributing to the different mechanical properties compared to the HR/316L variant. In addition, grain morphology, stacking fault energy, and nitrogen content might play a role. KW - AGIL KW - Additive Fertigung KW - Laser-Pulverbettschmelzen KW - Mikrostrukturentwicklung KW - 316L KW - LCF KW - Kriechen KW - Additive Manufacturing KW - Microstructure KW - Mechanical Properties KW - Mechanische Eigenschaften PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-597143 DO - https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-19828 SP - 1 EP - 190 CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-59714 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -