About
Professor Philippa A.S. Reed is Professor of Structural Materials within the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Southampton. Her research interests centre on investigating micromechanisms of failure in a range of structural materials including engine materials, power generation turbine materials, hybrid pressure vessels, pipes and welds. This includes application of numerical modelling approaches to failure problems; assessment and modelling of crack initiation and growth behaviour in a range of materials systems/architectures. A particular focus is the effects of external service conditions such as temperature, environment (e.g. oxidation and hydrogen embrittlement) and complex loading on failure processes. These interests are reflected in her recent and ongoing research collaborations with EDF, Rolls Royce, TWI and many other industry partners.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Fatigue processes in additively manufactured high performance alloys
- High temperature oxidation and creep fatigue processes in nickel based turbine disc and blade alloys
- Fatigue mitigation and prediction approaches in turbine blades
- Effects of shot peening and laser shock peening on subsequent fatigue and corrosion performance
Current research
Current research is focussing on the factors controlling dwell fatigue performance in a range of powder metallurgy, directionally solidified, single crystal and additively manufactured nickel base superalloys. The effect of temperature, time at dwell and environment are a particular focus. Another area of interest is in fatigue mitigation and prediction approaches applied in low pressure steam turbine blades, where life extension is a critical issue for industry. Other projects investigate controlling the fatigue performance of additively manufactured high performance alloys through processing parameter control and understanding the role of defect formation in determining lives
Research projects
Active projects
Completed projects
Publications
Teaching
I lead the Part 1 module SESM1016 in Mechanical Systems Analysis, I am also the Part 2 lead in Mechanical Engineering, lead the second year module FEEG2005 on Materials and Structures and lecture in the third year module SESG3024 Manufacturing and Materials. Individual projects in the third year and Masters projects are often carried out with PhD researchers in my group, using advanced materials characterisation and testing approaches
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
Professor Philippa A.S. Reed is Professor of Structural Materials within Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton.
Philippa graduated with a BA (Hons) in Materials Science and Metallurgy from Cambridge University in 1985, where she also obtained her Ph.D. on brittle failure in nuclear pressure vessel steels sponsored by Rolls Royce and Associates. Subsequent post-doctoral research at Cambridge investigated fatigue failure of aerospace turbine disc materials, supported by Rolls Royce and DRA Aerospace, Farnborough. She then spent six months at Oxford University as a SERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow before joining the Department of Engineering Materials in 1992 as a lecturer. She was elected to the Structural Materials Peer Review College of EPSRC in 1997, gaining CEng status in 1998, a Senior Lectureship in 1999, a Readership in 2002, Professorial status in 2006 and was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in 2009. She was Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department in the School of Engineering between 2015 and 2022
Prizes
- Elected Fellow of Institute of Minerals, Mining and Materials (2009)