2023 ABCP Annual Conference: Advanced Manufacturing and Materials

Abstract:

Professor Chaozong Liu

A concise and factual abstract, 11pt Times New Roman is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the key results and major conclusions. It must be able to stand alone, references should be avoided. Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided.

Additive manufactured Ti6Al4V triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) scaffolds with diamond and gyroid structures are known to have high stiffness and high osse-ointegration properties respectively. However, morphological deviation between as-designed and as-built of these two types of scaffolds have not been studied before. In this study, the morpho-logical and mechanical properties of diamond and gyroid scaffold at macro and micro scales were examined. The results demonstrated that the mean printed strut thickness and pores’ geometries were deviated from that of the designs. The extracted morphology and mechanical properties in this study can help understand the deviation between the as-design and as-built matrices which can help develop a design compensation strategy before fabrication of the scaffolds.

Bio:

Chaozong Liu is a non-clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Bioengineering at UCL Institute of Orthopaedics & Musculoskeletal Science, in associate with the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Stanmore. He is the MSc in Musculoskeletal Science Course Tutor, and Group Leader of UCL Orthopaedic Bioengineering within UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science. His current research is directed toward biomedical devices processing for enhancing the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders.

Abstract:

Professor Haitao Ye

Every school child is familiar with a picture or model of the space station and spacecraft, some of which you can see exhibited at Leicester’s National Space Centre. However, potentially dangerous fungi are living on the space stations and in spacecraft right now. Fungi are remarkably adaptable, and can live on, corrode, and degrade many materials that are part of the space station, leading to equipment failure and sealing decline, and even eventually platform failure. Some of these fungi may also be harmful for astronauts, especially during long-term exposure or as they change in the hostile environment of space. Whilst scientists have done a fair amount of research on bacteria in space, fungi remain relatively poorly understood. The talk will be focused on exploiting the disruptive innovation involving surface functionalised diamonds through ion implantation to address the problem of fungal growth in space environment, both on surfaces and critical components in manned satellites. Diamond is a corrosion-resistant and radiation hard material, capable of operating in harsh environments. Surface functionalised diamond has the potential to add antifungal activity to the well-known hardness and wear resistant aspects of diamond coatings.

Bio:

Professor Haitao Ye (PhD, CEng, FInstP, DGA and FHEA) is a Chair in Materials Engineering at the University of Leicester and serves as then Director of Postgraduate Research Students in the School of Engineering. He specilisizes in researching thin films and coatings, devices and sensors, and antimicrobial materials for advanced engineering applications and healthcare. Additionally, he serves as the co-Editor-In-Chief for the Journal of Functional Diamond. Prof. Ye’s research has received funding from EPSRC, FP7, H2020, Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering and the British Council, etc. He is the recipient of the Royal Society APEX fellowship, which recognizes independent researchers with a strong record in their respective areas, to pursue genuine interdisciplinary and curiosity-driven research that can benefit wider society.

Abstract:

Dr Zhanli Guo

The creep resistance of martensitic power plant steels depends strongly on the precipitates formed during tempering. Reliable prediction of stress-rupture life of these alloys demands accurate description of the precipitation evolution during service. The creep rupture model reported here is a natural extension of our previous research on simultaneous precipitation kinetics and hardening in these steels. This model has been validated against experimental creep rupture data of many 9-12% Cr steels, including the G115 grade designed for the next generation fossil-fuel power plants in China. The effect of alloy composition and condition on rupture stress can now be quantitatively evaluated.

Bio:

Dr Guo received his BEng and MEng in Materials Science and Engineering from Tsinghua University, China, and PhD from Queens University Belfast, UK. He is the Scientific Director of Sente Software Ltd, focused on developing computer software JMatPro®. He is also a visiting professor in University of Surrey, UK.

Abstract:

Dr Nan Li

Panel components constitute a significant portion of vehicles’ components, impacting their overall performance and efficiency. This presentation introduces cost-effective solutions for forming advanced lightweight sheet materials, including ultra-high strength steels, high strength aluminium alloys, two-phase titanium alloys, Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites, and hybrid metal-FRP laminates, into complex-shaped high-performance panel components. These technological innovations are tailored to each material’s microstructural-thermomechanical characteristics. The underpinning scientific research, supported by advanced experimental and modelling techniques, that aid in understanding the mechanisms will be discussed. The methods and expertise showcased could potentially be extended to forming new material sheets for more sustainable or intelligent structures.

Bio:

Dr Nan Li co-leads the Advanced Manufacturing Group at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College. Her team are pioneers in Lightweight Design and Manufacturing, focusing on developing innovative solutions for high-performance lightweight vehicles, thereby making significant contributions to a more sustainable future for the transportation industry.

Abstract:

Dr Pengzhu Wang

A concise and factual abstract, 11pt Times New Roman is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the key results and major conclusions. It must be able to stand alone, references should be avoided. Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided.

Offshore energy generation devices including wind turbines, tidal and wave devices and solar panels are secured to the sea bed by mooring cables beyond certain water depth. Continuous condition monitoring is therefore critical for the safe and cost-effective operation of offshore floating energy farms. Sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Fellowship, the author undertook research on smart polymer-carbon nanotube composite materials and their application as sensor and strength members of fibre mooring cables. Laboratory scale samples of a number of thermoplastic polymer materials with 1-2 wt% CNT showed promising results.

Bio:

Dr Pengzhu Wang holds a PhD in engineering polymer materials from University of Cambridge. He works at Bridon Bekaert Ropes Group as the Principal R&D Scientist specializing in high performance and smart flexible tension members. Dr Wang is the Editor of International Journal of Rope Science and Technology.

Abstract:

Dr Dikai Guan

Spark plasma sintering (SPS) and friction stir processing (FSP) were used to recycle waste WE43 Mg alloy turning them into consolidated billets. Billets were firstly produced from waste chips using SPS. Metallurgical bonding between chips were achieved during the process, yet large second phase network and pores were observed. Then FSP was further applied to refine microstructures and remove pores. Most of the large second phases were refined to 100 nm. The average grain size was reduced to around 1-3 μm. The hardness of FSPed material reached HV0.5=89, which is comparable against commercial extruded bar (T5, HV0.5=93).

Bio:

Dr Dikai Guan is an Associate Professor in Lightweight Materials and leads the research areas in developing new high performance light alloys, tailoring microstructure and designing pertinent experiments for microstructure characterisation.

Abstract:

Dr Zhilun Lu

Driven by the rise of portable electronics and electric vehicles, energy storage devices are evolving towards higher densities. Dielectric capacitors, with rapid charge-discharge rates and high-power densities, are gaining attention. However, the search for less toxic, lead-free materials remains challenging. Our research introduces relaxor ferroelectric and antiferroelectric lead-free ceramics. Using tailored dopant strategies in BiFeO3-based ceramics, we’ve achieved a high energy density of 15.8 J cm-3. Furthermore, our study on AgNbO3-based ceramics has identified design principles for enhancing energy density in antiferroelectric ceramics, offering essential guidelines for high energy density capacitor design.

Bio:

Dr. Zhilun Lu is a lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University. His research group focuses on the structure-composition-property relations of a broad spectrum of advanced functional materials and the translation of novel materials into prototype devices. He is an expert in Neutron Scattering to analyse atomic and magnetic structures.

Abstract:

Dr Xiao Yang

Digitally-enhanced technologies are set to transform every aspect of manufacturing. Networks of sensors and emerging Cloud-FEA technologies yield data at unprecedented scales, providing information that had previously been impractical. In the present study, data obtained from a vast number of experimentally verified FE simulation results is used for a metal forming process to develop a digitally-enhanced lubricant evaluation and development approach, by precisely representing tribologically complex loading conditions at the workpiece/tooling interface. The presented approach combines the implementation of digital characteristics of the target forming process, data-guided lubricant testing and mechanism-based theoretical modelling, enabling the intuitive and quantitative evaluation of the lubricant performance.

Bio:

Xiao Yang is a Research Associate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her current research focuses on friction characterisation and interfacial behaviours in metal forming. Her contributions on digitally-enhanced lubricant development were recognized by prestigious awards, including ‘The Editors’ Highlights 2022’ for best papers published in Nature Communications and the Unwin Prize, in recognition of her excellent PhD thesis.

Abstract:

Dr Jiashen Li

Poly(L lactic acid) (PLLA) was electrospun and collected as micro/nano fibers or fibrous membranes. At this stage, the electrospun PLLA fibers are solid fiber with smooth surface, like almost all other electrospun fibers. Then, the collected PLLA fibers were treated by acetone at room temperature. With the solvent-induced recrystallization of PLLA, the fibres became a porous structure with ultrahigh surface area. Meanwhile, they still keep the mechanical properties. The surface area of porous fibres is about 10-50 times higher than non-treated fibres. For the porous PLLA fibers and fibrous membrane, they can find a wide range of applications in air/water filtration, separation, absorption, adsorption, tissue engineering, drug delivery, and so on.

Bio:

Dr. Jiashen Li is a Lecturer in Textile Science & Engineering in the Department of Materials. His research interests involve the science and technology underpinning processing-structure-property relationships in functional fibers and textiles; including nano fibres, bio-functional fibres, smart fibres and textiles, e-textile, and structural fibre-composites.

Abstract:

Dr Zhusheng Shi

Aluminium alloy profiles are widely used in the transportation industry for lightweight structures and extrusion is a popular manufacturing method. For wide-thin profiles, however, extremely high extrusion force and therefore extra-large capacity press are required. This study presents a novel extrusion technique for manufacturing wide-thin aluminium profiles with low force, using multiple containers to significantly reduce the extrusion ratio and therefore the extrusion force. A three-container extrusion system has been established and employed. The results show that the new system only requires 15% of the extrusion force with porthole extrusion and a good welding quality has been achieved.

Bio:

Dr Zhusheng Shi is an Advanced Research Fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London. His main interest lies in metal forming and materials modelling. His current research focuses on creep age forming, hot stamping, and extrusion of curved products and wide profiles.

Abstract:

Dr Nanfu Zong

To investigate longitudinal surface cracks for a peritectic steel continuous casting wide slab, a physics-based computational modelling of the three-dimensional turbulent fluid flow, heat transfer and solidification in continuous casting mold has been presented. The effects of nozzle depth, casting speed, superheat temperature on longitudinal surface cracks were quantitatively discussed. The results indicate the distribution of the liquid fraction and velocity near the unsolidified shell along the longitudinal wide slab length is non-uniform, the size of the mushy zone and location of longitudinal surface cracks does vary throughout ladle change.

Bio:

Nanfu Zong is research associate, School of Engineering, University of Leicester. He earned his PhD in metallurgical engineering. He has done research in Tsinghua University as Postdoctoral and assistant research fellow. He has won State Science and Technology Awards (2019) and the Liaoning Province Natural Science Academic Achievement Award (2021).

Abstract:

Wearable sensing devices for the construction of the body area sensing networks based on advanced fibers are arousing increasing research interests in recent years due to their great potential in future digital health. However, some vital performance of the sensing devices in practical applications is still not far from optimal, such as wearable comfort, sensing selectivity, sensing reliability in the fickle microclimate of wearable interfaces and multi-direction dynamic tactile stimulations. We developed many functionalized fiber-based flexible strain, pressure, and humidity sensors by hybrid fiber functionalization approaches and advanced engineering, endowing the devices with improved sensing reliability towards changeable wearable microclimate and complex mechanical stimulation. We envision the high-performance and flexible sensors can be utilized in real applications for digital health with improved sensing performance.

Bio:

Zekun Liu received his Ph.D. at the Department of Materials, The University of Manchester. He is now working in Pierre-Alexis Mouthuy’s Group as a Research Associate at the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, University of Oxford. His work focuses on flexible and biocompatible electronics in a humanoid bioreactor for tissue engineering.

Abstract:

Rouying Zhang

In this research, (BiSb)2Te3 thin films were deposited on glass substrates using Radio frequency (RF) sputtering at 300 °C under various growth conditions. The effects of RF power, chamber gas pressure, and annealing temperature on the thermoelectric properties of the deposited films were investigated. Increasing the annealing temperature resulted in an increase in deposition rate and grain size. After optimization of growth conditions and further annealing treatment, it was found that thin films grown at higher RF power exhibited higher electrical conductivity due to an increase in carrier concentration. Additionally, films grown under 37.5 W RF power showed an enhancement in the Seebeck coefficient, leading to a maximum power factor. The base pressure of the deposition chamber was maintained at 10−6 mbar, and the optimal thermoelectric performance was observed for films grown at 0.04 mbar Ar+ partial pressure. These results demonstrate the importance of optimizing growth conditions and annealing treatment for the development of high-performance (BiSb)2Te3 thin films with potential applications in thermoelectric devices.

Bio:

Ruoying Zhang is a PhD student at the School of Engineering, University of Leicester. Her research interest focuses on the PVD and CVD thin film and functional devices, especially in diamond related materials and thermoelectric ceramics coatings. She has published 10 research articles in peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings.

Abstract:

Hongyan Wang

This research focuses on solid-state stamp forming of unidirectional fibre reinforced thermoplastics (UD FRTPs). The study comprises four key components: (1) experimental characterisation and analysis of thermomechanical properties of thermoplastics to establish feasibility and initial processing windows, (2) characterisation of the UD FRTPs regarding the intra-ply deformation mechanisms considering anisotropy and thermomechanical responses, (3) development and implementation of physically-based constitutive models for thermoplastics and UD FRTPs in Finite Element (FE) software, and (4) stamp forming of demonstrators using optimised processing parameters, validating the constitutive and FE models. These findings confirm the potential application of UD FRTPs in the automotive industry.

Bio:

Hongyan is a Ph.D. student in Lightweight Design and Manufacturing, at Imperial College London. She specialises in stamp forming technologies for unidirectional fibre reinforced thermoplastics (UD FRTPs). Her expertise lies in experimental characterisation, constitutive modelling, numerical simulation, and design optimisation of composite thermoforming processes.

Abstract:

Jianbo Zhang

Basic oxygen furnace (BOF) process is a globally technique in the steelmaking industry. Optimizing the BOF process is crucial for reducing carbon emissions, improving energy efficiency, and enhancing product quality. In this study, machine learning (ML) has been applied to attempt in BOF endpoint temperature prediction. Prior to constructing the prediction model, data preprocessing, feature selection, feature engineering and expert guidance were undertaken. Various algorithms including linear regression, support vector regressor and XGBoost were utilized to achieve high accuracy on a vast dataset comprising over 10,000 furnace heats from a steel production company.

Bio:

Jianbo Zhang is a PhD student from Department of Engineering, University of Leicester. He obtained his master’s degree in metallurgical engineering from University of Science and Technology Beijing. Before embarking on his doctoral studies, he gained two years of research and development experience at Nanjing Iron & Steel Co., Ltd.

Abstract:

Zerong Ding

This paper proposes a generalisable approach for rapidly predicting stress-strain curves in representative volume elements (RVEs) under transverse tensile conditions. It combines a convolutional neural network (CNN) with a newly developed microstructure-based constitutive model (MCM), which segregates the effect of microstructure and material constituents. Enabled by the MCM, the CNN trained on the datasets constructed using one set of material constituents (CF/PEEK at 270ºC), was generalised to predict the stress-strain curves for RVEs with different microstructures and material matrices at varying temperatures, with the average mean absolute percentage error below 3%. This approach significantly increases the efficacy of the CNN.

Bio:

Zerong Ding is a Ph.D. student in Lightweight Design and Manufacturing at Imperial College London. He has been focusing on stamping forming technologies for fibre metal laminates (FMLs) and fibre-reinforced polymers (FRPs). His specialises in lightweight design, numerical simulation and optimisations concerning various aspects in the composite forming processes.

Abstract:

Qinghong Huang

Medical protective clothing is an important personal protective equipment for medical staffs, especially in the pandemic. This research paper studied the effect of structure properties (material, yarn linear density and fabric thread density) of cotton and polyester fabrics on human thermal comfort. The main methodology entails using a CAD software to simulate the thermal comfort value of the individual when they wear a medical protective clothing made of 10 plain-woven fabric types. The normal effective temperature formula is used to simulate the clothing microclimate for evaluating the thermal comfort value.

Bio:

Qinghong Huang is a PhD student of Textiles and Apparel at University of Manchester. His research area is functionalizing the personal protective clothing, which includes the good clothing thermal comfort value, antimicrobial ability and smart wearable sensor.

Abstract:

Shusong Zan

The research aims to understand the basic cutting mechanisms and the obtained surface integrity when machining fibre reinforced metal matrix composites under different temperatures. Based on this research, advanced machining technologies can be developed for these materials, which show broad application prospect due to their superior properties. In this study, both the grain deformation mechanism in matrix and the brittle fracture of the fibre under different temperatures are explained, which shows unique characteristics due to the interaction between the ductile matrix and brittle fibre. It is revealed that heat-assisted machining might help improving the machinability of these materials.

Bio:

Shusong Zan is a PhD student in University of Nottingham. His PhD project mainly focuses on the machining and surface integrity of fibre reinforced metal matrix composites, which helps the understanding of basic cutting mechanisms and the development of possible advanced machining technologies for these materials