Biography
Biography: Stephen G R Brown
Abstract
Steel is the most widely used structural material in the world. Innovations in alloy development contribute to advances in key manufacturing sectors including automotive, packaging, defence and construction. Globally the development of new steel and coating alloys is a slow and iterative process involving significant business risk and expensive trials of many 100s of tonnes. This paper describes a high throughput approach to trials where substantial numbers of small scale samples will be prepared and their properties and processability tested and modelled using state of the art imaging, computational modelling and mechanical testing. This effort is a new partnership between Swansea University, Warwick University and Tata Steel. The research direction is informed, but not limited, by the pull from customer requirements, future product projections and by existing constraints introduced by processing asset limitations and residual elements contained within scrap, an essential component of all primary steel. This radical virtual factory approach will be integrated into a scale up activity enabling the simultaneous solution of new materials invention and processing. This research has the potential of transforming the steel innovation cycle and reducing screening times by a factor of up to 100 creating a vibrant 21st century steel manufacturing industry, feeding a diverse supply chain operating in multiple sectors.