ProfessorChristopher Gourlay
Professor of Physical Metallurgy
Department of Materials - Faculty of Engineering
Orcid identifier0000-0002-4588-6007 (opens in a new tab)
- Professor of Physical MetallurgyDepartment of Materials - Faculty of Engineering
- 020 7594 8707 (Work)
- 301D, Bessemer Building, South Kensington Campus, United Kingdom
RESEARCH
Research in the group seeks to understand and control microstructure formation in phase transformations. A major focus is on solidification in metallic alloys, and its applications in electronic soldering and structural castings. Another interest is in optimising performance through processing – microstructure – property relationships. Our current research is focussed on the following challenges:
- High reliability Pb-free solders for harsh environments
- Low temperature solders to reduce energy use and dynamic warpage in electronics manufacturing
- Impurity tolerant magnesium alloys designed for recycling
- High pressure die casting for automotive lightweighting
- Combined casting and deformation processing routes to reduce energy use in metals manufacturing
- Liquid metal alloy ion sources for ion implantation in functional materials.
Common approaches in our laboratory include controlled solidification experiments such as Bridgman growth to control interface velocity in a known positive temperature gradient, or nucleating droplets in a DSC at known undercooling. We also perform in-situ studies on synchrotron X-ray beamlines and in electron microscopes to probe the dynamics of microstructure formation, and we study the crystallographic aspects of phase transformations with EBSD and analytical TEM. In recent years our group has particularly applied these techniques to the following topics:
- Nucleation and grain refinement
- Eutectic solidification
- Crystallographic aspects of intermetallic nucleation and growth
- Mushy zone mechanics
- Coarsening, recovery and recrystallisation
- High reliability Pb-free solders for harsh environments
- Low temperature solders to reduce energy use and dynamic warpage in electronics manufacturing
- Impurity tolerant magnesium alloys designed for recycling
- High pressure die casting for automotive lightweighting
- Combined casting and deformation processing routes to reduce energy use in metals manufacturing
- Liquid metal alloy ion sources for ion implantation in functional materials.
Common approaches in our laboratory include controlled solidification experiments such as Bridgman growth to control interface velocity in a known positive temperature gradient, or nucleating droplets in a DSC at known undercooling. We also perform in-situ studies on synchrotron X-ray beamlines and in electron microscopes to probe the dynamics of microstructure formation, and we study the crystallographic aspects of phase transformations with EBSD and analytical TEM. In recent years our group has particularly applied these techniques to the following topics:
- Nucleation and grain refinement
- Eutectic solidification
- Crystallographic aspects of intermetallic nucleation and growth
- Mushy zone mechanics
- Coarsening, recovery and recrystallisation