In top-end applications materials often have to fulfil complex functions in extreme environments, which set limits to their performance and lead to their degradation. As there is a diversity of extreme environments there is a diversity of the required functionalities and of the type of materials which could fulfil them.

Typically it is not only one factor, but combinations of several, which lead to extreme and complex loading conditions of the materials. The loading of materials may consist of up to four components:

• very high heat fluxes and temperatures
• physico-chemically aggressive media
• complex mechanical loads
• highly energetic radiation fields
  

New materials and processes to match these most challenging issues can only be found by a generic and multidisciplinary approach, which addresses the common fundamental issues.
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