7th Postgraduate Research Symposium on Ferrous Metallurgy a great success
7th Annual Ferrous Metallurgy Symposium rganised by the Materials Processing Institute in collaboration with the Armourers and Brasiers’ Company and the IOM3 Iron & Steel Group.
Armourers Hall, London, hosted the 7th Annual Ferrous Metallurgy Symposium on 27 February. This conference provides the perfect opportunity for postgraduate students from industry and academia to showcase their research; it is organised by the Materials Processing Institute in collaboration with the Armourers and Brasiers’ Company and the IOM3 Iron & Steel Group.
Chris McDonald FREng FIMMM, Strategic Advisor at the Materials Processing Institute welcomed everyone to the event and after a brief introduction handed over to the chair of the first session, Dr Richard Thackray MIMMM from the University of Sheffield. This session focussed on process development and featured three presentations from students from Warwick and Swansea universities covering the optimisation of next generation galvanising pot hardware, the influence of composition on cast microstructure for different casting technologies, and the development of formable steel grades through alternative steelmaking processes.
After a drink and the first opportunity to take a look at the posters, the second session began. Professor Hongbaio Dong FREng CEng FIMMM of the University of Leicester, chaired the session on new approaches for future manufacture and introduced presenters from Brunel, Cranfield and Warwick universities. The presenters spoke on the rationalisation of steel grades and specifications, challenges in wire-arc additive manufacturing, and augmenting thermodynamic oxidation data for dual phase steels using synthetic data.
A delicious lunch was accompanied by a chance to network and have a further look at the thirteen posters. It was wonderful to see so many areas of steel research on display. Topics explored included steels for nuclear fusion applications, the development and assessment of metallic antimicrobial coatings for steels, the impact of cryogenic treatments on corrosion resistance, and capture and reduction of carbon emissions to maximise circularity in steelmaking.
The final presentation session focussed on characterisation and properties. The Chair, Gill Thornton FIMMM of Globus Metal Powders Ltd, introduced four presentations detailing research on hydrogen embrittlement of L-PBF manufactured 316L stainless steel, the effect of inconsistent casting on the mechanical performance of cast iron wind turbine components, in situ synchrotron radiography investigation of graphite nodule evolution during solidification in ductile cast iron, and characterising reheated microstructures of microalloyed multi-pass C-Mn steel, from students studying at Southampton Strathclyde, Leicester and Manchester universities respectively.
After another cup of tea and a final chance to look at the posters, the keynote lecture was delivered by Dr Pam Murrell FICME, Chief Executive of the Cast Metals Federation, on ‘The challenges and opportunities for the UK castings industry – can castings be a solution for the transition to net zero?’
The event concluded with the presentation of prizes. Dr Stuart Millman FIMMM presented the Millman Scholarship to Aimee Hughes who is currently studying for a degree in Mathematics at the University of Manchester. The Ashok Kumar Fellowship, run by the Materials Processing Institute in conjunction with the IChemE and Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) was presented to Dylan Sharman who is in the final year of a DPhil in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford.
Finally, Dr Roger Bowdler, Master of the Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers presented the best poster prize to Amir Cheshmehzangi from the University of Warwick for his striking poster entitled ‘Development of a digital twin framework for the steel bending process’, and the runner up presentation prize to Ajitesh Sharm, also from the University of Warwick for his talk on ‘The influence of composition on the cast microstructure for different casting technologies’. The best presentation prize was awarded to Enn Veikesaar from the University of Manchester for his presentation on ‘Characterising reheated microstructures of microalloyed multi-pass C-Mn steel’. The judges, from the Armourers Company, Materials Processing Institute and IOM3, agreed that the event had once again been a great success; it was pleasing to see so much excellent research taking place and wonderful to have previous poster authors coming back to deliver presentations.
The organisers would like to thank the sponsors, Tata Steel, Materials and Design Exchange (MaDE), the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Cast Metals, UK Metals Council, the Cast Metals Federation, and the Henry Royce Institute for their support of the event, and the team at Armourers' Hall for their incredible hospitality.
Registrations and sponsorship opportunities for the 8th Postgraduate Research Symposium on Ferrous Metallurgy to be held on 25 February 2025 are now open and researchers are invited to submit applications to present or display a poster.
Register for the 8th Postgraduate Research Symposium on Ferrous Metallurgy
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