Research Supervisor Connect
Research Area:
Materials Engineering; Metallic Materials; Mechanical Behaviour; Nanostructures; Infrastructure and transportation.
Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering
High-performance alloys are the backbone of decarbonising innovations in manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, and transportation. There is an accelerated demand for high-strength materials to produce lighter, more-reliable structural components. Stronger alloys will substantially improve mechanical and energy efficiencies, which can benefit our economy and environment directly. However, high-strength materials typically have low ductility and are more vulnerable to fracture. Furthermore, they are also susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement (HE) in many service environments for renewable energy applications such as hydrogen transportation and the bearings of wind turbines. Hydrogen-induced embrittlement can lead to unpredictable and catastrophic failures at relatively low applied stresses. These critical shortcomings cause serious safety concerns but cannot be readily addressed by traditional materials development approaches that generally render materials property trade-offs between strength and ductility/HE resistance.
Gradient structures are an emerging material-design paradigm inspired by nature that has great potential to overcome these alloy design trade-offs. This project aims to develop an innovative design strategy of gradient segregation engineering (GSE) to produce high-performance alloys by synergistically introducing a chemical gradient via grain boundary (GB) segregation and a physical gradient by nanostructure control. The novel GSE will entail a synergy of multiscale strengthening mechanisms that offer an exceptional strength-ductility combination and simultaneously enable the hierarchical HE-resisting mechanisms to notably enhance the hydrogen tolerance.
How to Apply:
To apply, please email xianghai.an@sydney.edu.au the following:
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 3481