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Engineering ➞ Postgraduate study

Mr Saranarayanan Ramachandran B.E., MEng

PhD student in Engineering Materials Research Group

Mr Saranarayanan Ramachandran's photo

Mr Saranarayanan Ramachandran is a Postgraduate Research Student within Engineering and the Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton.

I received my MEng in Manufacturing Engineering with distinction and University Rank-2 from the Anna University, INDIA in 2014. I had my B.E. degree in Mechatronics Engineering from the Anna University, INDIA in 2012 with distinction.

During my MEng degree, I had several modules related to material science which provided me a solid foundation in Engineering Materials. My MEng dissertation project was on addressing the challenging issues involved in joining the dissimilar materials using both solid-state and fusion welding processes. After completing my MEng degree, I worked as an assistant professor in an Engineering college affiliated to Anna University, India for two years. On May 2016, I enrolled as a PhD student in the Engineering Materials Research Group under the supervision of Professor Janice Barton and Professor Philippa Reed, researching on the local material behaviour of a similar/dissimilar Friction Stir Welds (FSW).

Research interests

  • Welding processes
  • Welding metallurgy
  • Microstructural characterizations (Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Electron Back Scattered Diffraction (EBSD))
  • Digital Image Correlation (DIC)
  • Thermoelastic Stress Analysis (TSA)
  • X-ray Computer Tomography

PhD Supervision

Professor Janice Barton, Professor Philippa Reed

PhD Research

High-Fidelity DIC Imaging on the Friction Stir Welded (FSW) joints to assess the local strain distributions across the weld sub-regions

Research projects

Welding is a material joining process widely employed to join two similar or dissimilar materials. An application of any typical welding process on the metals will significantly change their microstructure locally across the weld. This is due to the thermal gradients caused by a range of process parameters involved in the welding process. The local microstructural changes in the vicinity of the weld will lead to the creation of a distinct weld sub-regions. As the mechanical performance of a material is closely related with its corresponding microstructure, the local material performance of the individual weld sub-regions would not be similar. Therefore, to assess the global material performance of any welded system, all the local property variations across the weld sub-regions need to be accounted using the standard material characterization techniques.

The overarching aim of this PhD project is to assess the local material performance of the similar and dissimilar Friction Stir Welded (FSW) joints between Copper and Stainless Steel metals, using a high-resolution Full-Field technique called Digital Image Correlation (DIC). To achieve this, high-fidelity DIC imaging procedures have been developed by thoroughly accounting the entire geometry of the weld nugget using the techniques such as Alicona microscopy and X-ray CT. The DIC measurements will be aided with the key findings derived from the microscopy techniques to map the local structural-property relationships of the weld sub-regions in a high degree of confidence.

Mr Saranarayanan Ramachandran
Engineering, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton. SO17 1BJ United Kingdom
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