Shaun has worked at TWI, Cambridge for the last 10 years, before which he worked as a soldier and tradesman in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers of the British Army. He completed a BEng (Hons) while working at TWI.
Shaun explains the award means he “can continue working while undertaking this research” and “the Industrial Fellowship is a great fit for [TWI] and for his research in particular.
Shaun’s work centres around determining the boundary conditions of weld metal hydrogen cracking. Weld metal hydrogen cracking occurs when decomposed hydrogen created during welding produces hydrogen ions. These ions are absorbed into the molten weld pool and remain there during solidification. These diffusible hydrogen ions then interact with microstructural features, such as dislocations, grain boundaries and vacancies, resulting in high localised stresses and ultimately cracking of the weld metal if certain conditions are present
While work has been done to understand certain types of hydrogen cracking, for example, Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) hydrogen cracking, there is little published data defining when weld metal hydrogen cracking becomes the dominant mechanism.
Shaun will expand on knowledge of weld metal hydrogen cracking as a failure mechanism separate to HAZ hydrogen cracking and move towards defining control measures specific to its avoidance.
What is the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Fellowship
The ERA Foundation has worked with the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 to award an annual ERA Industrial Fellowship several years.
The aim of the fellowship is to encourage profitable innovation and creativity within British. The ERA Fellowship supports those working in the electro-technology sector and is awarded to selected, exceptional graduates with the potential to make an outstanding contribution to Industry for a programme of doctoral level research.
