Thursday, 17 March 2016

Forensic Material Engineering from Dr Howard Taylor

The Yorkshire Region 2015 lecture programme continued on Tuesday 2 June

Forensic Material Engineering from Dr Howard Taylor

Consultant in Forensic Material Engineering

Senior Lecturer in Materials - School of Engineering

Manchester Metropolitan University

Over 30 members and guests attended the Holiday Inn Brighouse for an informative insight into the world of forensic engineering.

Dr Taylor started with brief overview of his career, from working in the nuclear industry to his current post.

The presentation then moved on to the applications for forensic material engineering, with a focus on the automotive field.

The main areas are visual inspection, microscopy, material properties, modelling and simulation.

The different types of microscope were covered, with the benefits and advantages of each type described before moving on to some case studies.

These included an aircraft turbine blade (fatigue fracture), a truck hub (casting process fault) with explanations of how the causes of failure were established using these techniques.

Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) were covered in some detail, along with the considerable advantages these have. Using electrons instead of light gives an ability to see far more detail and the subject matter is considerably easier to prepare. The large depth of field and high resolution makes them ideal for studying irregular fractured surfaces.

Some more examples were then shown, with X-rays showing con rod failures with classic signs of fatigue due to inclusions in the metal during the forging process, then exhaust valves that failed after just five hours due to the use of incorrect materials during manufacture of the parts.

The meeting then moved on to simulation and stress analysis to establish the reason for failures, resistance testing and materials data comparison. An example used was the carbon fibre forks from a bicycle which detailed analysis revealed had failed as a result of internal compression caused by a manufacturing defect.

The meeting closed with Regional Chairman Ivan Marriott thanking Howard for another fascinating and rewarding presentation, leading the traditional show of thanks.

Dave Foster.

IAEA Yorkshire Region Secretary.