Matthew is in his 4th year on the Department of Materials' MEng Materials Science course. His 4th year project has involved high resolution TEM and STEM imaging of dislocation structures in BCC metals (W, Mo, Nb & V), using new samples prepared by a combination of nanoindentation and jet electropolishing. His focus is on 1/2 a <111> screw dislocations and <001> screw dislocations produced at attractive junctions. It is hoped that this work will give new insights into the fundamental mechanisms of plasticity and work hardening in BCC metals, and feed back into integrated models for their micro mechanical and thermo-physical properties in applications such as plasma-facing components for nuclear fusion reactors.
