Andrew Kennedy
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering
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Expertise Summary
Development of processing-structure-properties relationships for advanced materials.
Specialist areas of expertise in metal matrix composites, cermets, aluminium foams and porous metallic materials.
Processing of materials and development of novel and energy efficient manufacturing methods.
Specialist areas in powder processing of ferrous materials and extrusion and casting of Al alloys.
Materials modelling
Modelling of powder flow and mixing operations by DEM methods, characteriation by experimentation and computed tomography
Research Summary
Development of processing-structure-properties relationships for advanced materials.
Activities include liquid metal infiltration, casting, powder processing and thermal treatment routes to producing new materials with improved or unique structures and properties, subsequent chemical, thermal and microscopical analysis of the materials and mechanical testing. The materials involved include:metal matrix composites and cermets, ferrous and non-ferrous powder metallurgy components, metal foams and porous metal structures and hybrid materials for biomedical implants.
Selected Publications
Past Research
Past research has looked at:
Development of processing-structure-properties relationships for advanced metal matrix composite materials.
The extrusion and casting of Al alloys and metal matrix composites
Powder processing and green machining of ferrous materials
Development of low temperature sinterable tool steels
Studies of interfacial phenomena in liquid metal-ceramic systems
Future Research
Future research builds on current experise in materials processing combining it with multi-disciplinary approaches to modelling
Examples of this include, the modelling of powder flow and mixing operations by the Discrete element method and validation by insitu monitoring of mixing and computed tomography and the modelling of bubble formation, flow and stabilisation in liquid systems as relevant to foaming of molten metal. These activities are in collaboration with other researchers in the School and Faculty.
Other topics include:
The application of 3D X-ray computed tomography to materials characterisation
Tailored bi-phase materials for biomedical implants produced by novel powder processing methods