Sheet rolling is a part of the metal manufacture process in which a metal slab is passed between two rotating rollers, which reduce its thickness. This action serves to control the dimensions of the sheet that comes out of the rollers, as well as to improve its material properties via work hardening.
During metal sheet rolling, the metal sheet undergoes deformation which is primarily plastic, but it also deforms elastically in some zones which are under investigation by PhD student Frank Flanagan. Although the material behaviour is very different to glass, some of the geometrical effects are similar to those seen in glass sheet manufacture.
Complex metal objects can be custom-built through additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing. For metals, this involves melting specific zones of successive layers of powdered metal. This process of forming a shape layer-by-layer can lead to significant anisotropic effects, which PhD student Goodness Udochukwu Okoh is studying as part of a joint project with the School of Engineering.