Research

The area of my research is the modification of structure and properties of aluminum (Al) alloys using rapid solidification processing (RSP). Nowadays RSP opens new horizons for Al alloy development in automotive and aerospace industries because of production materials with superior mechanical and thermal properties than conventional processed Al alloys.

Current research is aimed to control hydrogen embrittlement in advanced Al alloys developed for automotive and aerospace industry.

In particular, my research field includes structure and phase formation, kinetics of hydrogen (H) desorption, solidification mechanisms, physical and chemical properties of metallic alloys, rapid solidification processing and treatment, structural and functional materials. Rapidly solidified (RS) foils of Al-X (X = Ti – Zn, Ge, Zr, Sb) and Al-Si-Ti alloys have been examined.

At present, I am especially interested in study of HE behavior in RS Al and its alloys related to hydrogen embrittlement (HE) for aluminum alloys. It is exploratory investigation connected with practice, mainly because of the use of Al alloys for a high compressed H tank in fuel cell vehicles. Indeed, the potential for H fuel is considered as very exciting in both Belarus and other European countries to solve urgent ecological and transportation problems such as global warming, dryness and exhaustion of fossil fuels. I started these investigations in collaboration with Professor G. Itoh in Ibaraki University (Japan) within the framework of Matsumae International Foundation’s fellowship from May till October in 2008. This issue was lacking in previous works and is a subject of practical and scientific interest to control the problem of HE in high strength Al alloys.

Methods of structure and elemental analysis have been used: optical and electron microcopies, scanning photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, thermal desorption spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopies, etc.

My main achievements include original results of the dependence of the foil microstructure (grain structure, solute element depth distribution, etc.) on dopes. In particular, it was discovered that the solute elements are distributed irregularly in a near-surface region (up to 2.0 μm depth) of the RS alloys. As it was obtained, patterns of the dope depth profiles depend on dope element, phase composition and thermal treatment. For the first time it was found out that new metastable phases have been produced in lightly doped Al-Ge alloy foils. The decomposition temperature intervals of the phases have been determined. The opportunity of conservation of stability of alloy properties has been shown at temperatures which comply with requirements of new equipments.

Recent results point out the qualitative originality of the H-trapping behaviour of RS samples in comparison with traditionally processed Al and its alloys. Analysis of desorption data revealed H trapping states which likely associated with lattice defects such as vacancies, dislocations and voids, as well as dope atoms in the interstitial lattice sites. Current outcomes rise challenging questions and require continuation of the research.

See also my CV, Publications, International Scientific Contacts, Activities.

Academic Ancestry

My Ph.D. advisor was Professor Vasiliy Grigor’evich Shepelevich (the Belarusian State University, Minsk). His advisor was Professor Valeriy Ivanovich Prokoshin (the Belarusian State University), whose advisor was Professor Nikolay Fedorovich Kunin (head of a Solid State Physics Department of the Belarusian State University).