Supervisors:  Distinguished Professor Christopher Berndt, Dr Andrew Ang, and Associate Professor Scott Wade 

Thesis title: Thermal spray coatings for extreme engineering environments 

This doctoral research will investigate the thermal spray coatings for extreme engineering environments. Science article “Future of Metals” by K. Lu notes that there is a decline in metals usage in engineering materials for structural applications due to their low specific strength, corrosion problems, and softness at high temperature. To get hold of their position in structural applications, it is important to increase their strength both at room and high temperature without sacrificing the other important properties.  

One of the possible ways to optimize the overall properties is to combine all the elements together and develop a new multi-component alloy. For instance, recently developed, high entropy alloys (HEAs), with their unique properties, emerged as a new class of materials, especially for extreme engineering applications. As reported in different research articles over a decade, HEAs can retain their strength at elevated temperatures, shown excellent thermal stability and better oxidation and wear resistance than conventionally used materials. The need for the development of new class materials coatings for extreme engineering environments due the increasingly stringent requirements of industries has put forward an innovative combination of HEAs and thermal spray. Thermal spray technology is widely used in industries as a new or repair coating process to develop wear, oxidation and/or corrosion resistant coatings for enhancing the lifetime of base materials. This duo has the potential to replace currently used materials and to meet the industrial expectations. Current research focuses on the development of HEA coatings using thermal spray technology with the aim to achieve a coating system outperforming the conventional materials in various industrial applications. 

Ashok Meghwal holds a Master’s Degree in Metallurgical Engineering (with majors in Process Technology of Metals) from RWTH Aachen University, Germany and Bachelor Degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, India. During his Master’s, Ashok worked as a Research Intern on the topic of ‘electrical discharge coating’ in the Ceramic Research Centre, Tata Steel, Netherlands. He also has experience of working as a Graduate Engineer Trainee in quality assurance department at Jindal SAW Limited, India, a manufacture of large diameter submerged arc welded steel pipelines for oil and natural gas transportation.