Projects per year
Personal profile
Willing to supervise doctoral students
Interested in supervising students studying:
- Composites
- Additively manufactured materials
- Mechanical engineering
- Materials characterisation
- Microscopy & microscale techniques
- Synchrotron & neutron based methods
- Lab X-ray and laser based analysis
Research interests
Profile
Dr Alexander J G Lunt is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Micromechanical Testing within the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath. He is codirector of the Integrated Materials Processing and Structures Research Centre.
Alexander completed his MEng, PhD and first lectureship in engineering science at Christ Church, University of Oxford. Upon the completion of his PhD he took up a senior fellowship at CERN, where established their first dedicated micromechanical testing laboratory
Dr Lunt started at Bath in 2019, and has established a diverse research network in the fields of composites, additive manufacture, advanced materials and biomechanics. His research group is composed of 11 PhD students and 2 PDRAs. He is currently affiliate lead for the University’s CMS affiliation, and has strong collaborative connections with a broad range of academic and industrial partners.
He has won numerous awards and scholarships:
- Doctoral recognition award
- John Willis award
- Vice Chancellor's Engage Award
- Staff Recofnition Award
- WCE best paper award
- EPSRC scholarship
- Barnes award
- Hooke Prize
- Roach Prize
- Dixon scholarship
- GKN award
Research
Alexander’s main research interests are on the development of microscale mechanical experimental techniques using microscopy and non-destructive techniques. This research topic offers the potential to improve substantially our understanding of material mechanics at the micro-to-nanoscale and has arisen from the significant advances in these technologies in recent decades. He has published widely in the field (90+ journal publications, H-index 21, 3000+ citations), including work in Scientific Reports and Carbon, on topics ranging from microscale strain quantification in amorphous materials to the development of thin films for radio frequency applications.
He has significant experience in the micromechanical characterisation of a broad range of materials and systems including ceramics, biomaterials, polymers, metals and composites. In particular he has developed methods to characterise microscale variations in residual stress, fracture toughness and yield strength. He performed a significant amount of FEA and analytical modelling in order to understand better these systems and published articles as well as open source codes in these areas.
Alexander also has a wealth of experience in electron microscopy and Focused Ion Beam (FIB) based techniques. As a result, he has developed and published work on multiple new microscale mechanical tests exploiting these systems.
The other avenue of Alexander’s research is based on synchrotron and neutron diffraction. He has been awarded over 40 beamtimes at the some of the world’s leading facilities (including DLS, ISIS, ESRF and SLS) and has published widely in the field.
Academic collaboration is fundamental to the work that Alexander performs and he is always looking to establish new research partnerships. Alexander’s experiences in the characterisation of machining and interfaces has also been particularly helpful in process optimisation and refinement for industry. As a result he has participated in joint projects with Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Rolex, CERN, ITER, GKN, Carpenter Technology, Dowty Propellers and many other world leading industrial partners. These studies have resulted in significant technical progress, and the improvement of part characteristics. If similar characterisation would be of interest to you, Alexander is keen to develop new industrial links going forwards.
Other responsibilities
Alexander is currently composites and polymers lead for the Elsevier Journal of Materials and Design. He is also the UK user lead for Imaging and Microscopy at Diamond Light Source.
Teaching interests
Alexander’s teaching interests are broad and include:
- Solid mechanics
- Engineering mathematics
- Materials testing and characterisation
- Manufacturing techniques
- Engineering in society
- Information engineering
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Mechanical Microscopy, Doctor of Engineering, Mechanical microscopy of the interface between yttria-partially-stabilised zirconia and porcelain in dental prostheses, University of Oxford
1 Jul 2012 → 1 Apr 2016
Award Date: 1 Apr 2016
Mechanical Engineering, Master of Engineering, University of Oxford
1 Oct 2008 → 1 Jun 2012
Award Date: 1 Jun 2012
External positions
Editor, Elsevier
1 Oct 2016 → …
Keywords
- TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
- Nanomaterials
- Stress modelling
- X-ray diffraction
- Neutron diffraction
- Single crystal stiffness
- Phase analysis
- Focused Ion Beam
- Residual stress
- Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
- Raman spectroscopy
- Microscopy
- Micropillar splitting
- Micropillar compression
- Ring-core FIB milling and DIC
- Microscale characterisation
- Modelling
- Electron-back scattered diffraction
- Nanoindentation
- Atomic force microscopy
- SAXS
- Powder diffraction
- Industrial collaboration
- Process optimisation
- Thermal treatment
- Surface Science
- Machining
- Additive manufacture
- Composites
- Ceramics
- Polymers
- Interfaces
- Surface finishing
- FIB tomography
- Metallurgy
- TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics
- Material characterisation
- High temperature creep
- mechanical properties
- Small scale characterisation
- Elemental analysis
- Crystallography
- Consulting
- Young's modulus
- Hardness
- Yield Strength
- Creep
- QC Physics
- Molecular dynamics
- Pair distribution function analysis
- Transmission electron microscopy
- Computed tomography
- WAXS
- Synchrotron spectroscopy
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Inflatable Prone Repositioning Device (IPRD) Pressure Mat , from Functional Concept to Marketable Product - Research Capability Funding Application
Lunt, A. (PI)
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
1/09/24 → 31/05/25
Project: Central government, health and local authorities
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Ring-core FIB-DIC microscale residual stress analysis of multi-layered coatings for synchrotron optics applications
Lunt, A. (PI), Singhapong, W. (CoI), Bowen, C. (CoI), Wang, H. (CoI) & Sawhney, K. (CoI)
18/12/23 → …
Project: Research-related funding
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GKN Prosperity Partnership
Butler, R. (PI), Anaya-Izquierdo, K. (CoI), Bowen, C. (CoI), Buchard, A. (CoI), Burrows, A. (CoI), Chew, J. (CoI), Fallon, C. (CoI), Kopec, M. (CoI), Loukaides, E. (CoI), Lunt, A. (CoI), Lupton, R. (CoI), Mays, T. (CoI), Pegg, E. (CoI), Pinto, F. (CoI), Rhead, A. (CoI) & Yu, H. (CoI)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
1/12/23 → 30/11/28
Project: Research council
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Synchrotron XRD of TRISO particles and Cr-coated Zircaloy fuel claddings for nuclear applications
Lunt, A. (PI) & Liu, D. (CoI)
4/10/23 → …
Project: Research-related funding
Research output
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Comparative analysis of cathode morphologies in structural batteries using X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) and electrochemical methods
Barthelay, T., Gray, R., Richards, H., Santana, P. R., Britto, S., Geraki, K., Xia, Z., Xu, J., Asp, L., Bowen, C., Marken, F., Lunt, A. & Rhead, A., 28 Feb 2025, In: Journal of Power Sources. 630, 236050.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
A Bayesian expert system for additive manufacturing design assessment
Rogers, B. A., Campbell, N., Dhanda, M., Lunt, A. J. G., Pegg, E. C. & Dhokia, V., 31 May 2024, In: Proceedings of the Design Society. 4, p. 1809-1818 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review
Open Access -
Accelerated testing of soft soldered, small-diameter, thin-walled CuNi pipes subjected to cyclic internal pressure loading
McNair, S. A. M., Cichy, K., Daguin, J., Onnela, A. & Lunt, A. J. G., 1 Jan 2024, In: Journal of Materials Research and Technology. 28, p. 512-521 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Carbon fibre based electrodes for structural batteries
Gray, R., Barthelay, T., Bowen, C. R., Marken, F., Lunt, A. J. G., Asp, L. E., Zenkert, D., Rodriguez, P. S., Xu, J., Bouton, K. & Rhead, A. T., 8 Aug 2024, In: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 12, 38, p. 25580-25599 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access3 Citations (SciVal) -
Influence of the γ/γ′ Misfit on the Strain-Age Cracking Resistance of High-γ′ Ni and CoNi Superalloys for Additive Manufacturing
Forsik, S. A. J., Dicus, A. D., Colombo, G. A., Wang, T., Epler, M. E., Connolly, E. T., Srisuriyachot, J., Lunt, A. J. G. & Zhou, N., 21 Aug 2024, Superalloys 2024 - Proceedings of the 15th International Symposium on Superalloys. Cormier, J., Edmonds, I., Forsik, S., Kontis, P., O’Connell, C., Smith, T., Suzuki, A., Tin, S. & Zhang, J. (eds.). Cham, Switzerland: Springer, Cham, p. 908-917 10 p. (Minerals, Metals and Materials Series).Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceeding › Chapter in a published conference proceeding
Datasets
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Dataset for Synchrotron micro-CT in kink-band formation of UD-CFRP laminates with microdefects
Srisuriyachot, J. (Creator), Bénézech, J. (Supervisor), Mcnair, S. (Data Collector), Maierhofer, T. (Data Collector), Butler, R. (Supervisor) & Lunt, A. (Supervisor), University of Bath, 10 Oct 2023
DOI: 10.15125/BATH-01313
Dataset