Dr. Mirtunjay Kumar

Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Manchester

Email ID: mjay@hotmail.com , m.kumar@sheffield.ac.uk

Website / LinkedIn / GitHub / ORCiD / Google Scholar

Employment History

Postdoctoral Research Associate at Department of Materials in University of Sheffield, UK (Oct 2023 - Current)

Project: Mechanical Properties of Battery Materials

Currently, I am actively involved with FutureCat, where my primary research focus is on the analysis of complex metal oxide battery materials. Utilizing cutting-edge microscopy techniques and mechanical tests, I evaluate 3D electrode microstructures, identify defect content, and assess mechanical resilience in a variety of cathode materials. My proficiency in micromechanical testing, electron microscopy, and X-ray tomography greatly amplifies the impact of my ongoing research endeavors.

Postdoctoral Research Associate at Department of Materials in University of Manchester, UK (Nov 2022 - Sep 2023)

Project: Modelling the formability of light alloys during warm forming processes

This project is focussed on the modelling the formability of light alloys during warm forming processes, so that these may be exploited to fulfil the vision of the LightForm programme. It will also involve extending current crystal plasticity models to enrich the current description of the deformed state and couple them with phase transformation and dynamic precipitation models.

Education

M.Tech + Ph.D. (Dual degree) from Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India (Dec 2014 - Sep 2022)

Ph.D. Thesis: Experimental and Crystal Plasticity Simulation Study on the Deformation Behavior of Liquid Phase Sintered Tungsten Heavy Alloys.

The thesis delves into the deformation mechanisms of Tungsten heavy alloys (WHA) used in defense and civil sectors. Utilizing neutron and x-ray diffraction, electron backscatter diffraction, and crystal plasticity simulations, the study focuses on the role of the Ni-Fe-W matrix phase in WHA's deformation behavior. It reveals that tungsten content and interactions between phases critically affect deformation. Through a detailed analysis of crystallographic texture evolution, the research highlights the importance of slip localization and shear band formation in understanding the alloy's performance and failure mechanisms. This work fills a knowledge gap in WHA deformation behavior.

M.Tech. Thesis: Development of Processing-Microstructure-Mechanical Behaviour Paradigms for Tungsten Heavy Alloys.
CGPA: 8.7/10

The thesis delves into optimizing the conventional sintering process for manufacturing Tungsten Heavy Alloys (WHA) with an emphasis on retaining dimensional stability and achieving full density. By meticulously adjusting matrix composition and sintering parameters, the study investigates microstructural evolution such as grain growth and connectivity. Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) is employed to quantify microstructural properties, and the thesis evaluates the hardness, tensile, and compressive strengths of the alloys. The research reveals that the strengths are strain rate-sensitive and further quantifies this sensitivity. Additionally, the study analyses hardness variation and examines fracture surfaces for different failure modes.

B.Tech from Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, National Institute of Technology Warangal, India

B.Tech Project: Pressureless sintering behaviour of Cu-TiB$_2$ composite produced by powder metallurgical technique.
CGPA: 8.18 out of 10.

Class:XII from CBSE, Jamshedpur Public School A.I.W.C., Jharkhand

Marks: 73.8%.

Class:X from CBSE, Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Jharkhand

Marks: 82.7%.

Research Publication

Kumar, M., Singh, A., & Mishra, S. (2021). Enriching mean-field self-consistent texture simulations using the full-field fft model. Materials Science and Technology, 37(17), 1343–1352. doi:10.1080/02670836.2021.2007455

Kumar, M., Singh, A., Beura, V. K., & Mishra, S. (2021). Incorporating latent hardening in visco-plastic self-consistent framework for performing texture simulations. Materials Science and Technology, 1–13. doi:10.1080/02670836.2021.1946949

Kumar, M., Gurao, N., & Upadhyaya, A. (2022c). Implications of slip transition on the work hardening and texture evolution of nickel-tungsten-iron ternary alloy. Materials Characterization, 112010. doi:10.1016/j.matchar.2022.112010

Kumar, M., Gurao, N., & Upadhyaya, A. (2022b). Evolution of microstructure and crystallographic texture during cold rolling of liquid phase sintered tungsten heavy alloy. International Journal of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials, 105, 105849. doi:10.1016/j.ijrmhm.2022.105849

Kumar, M., Gurao, N., & Upadhyaya, A. (2022a). Effect of tungsten content and compression on microstructure and texture evolution in liquid phase sintered heavy alloy. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A. doi:10.1007/s11661-021-06586-x

Kumar, M., & Mishra, S. (2022). Revisiting taylor factor using fast fourier transform based model and its implications on work hardening. Available at SSRN 4125910. doi:10.2139/ssrn.4125910

Mishra, S., Kumar, M., & Singh, A. (2020). Evolution of rotated brass texture by cross rolling: Implications on formability. Materials Science and Technology, 36(12), 1272–1281. doi:10.1080/02670836.2020.1773036

Singh, B. P., Kumar, M., Jain, R., Singh, A., & Mishra, S. (2023). Finite element assisted self-consistent simulations to capture texture heterogeneity during hot compression. International Journal of Materials Research, 114(3), 219–230. doi:10.1515/ijmr-2022-0138

Khairnar, V. S., Kulkarni, A. N., Lonikar, V. V., Gite, A. B., Kumar, M., Patil, D. P., & Kadam, D. P. (2023). Electrodeposition of bi2te3 thin films for thermoelectric applications: Effect of electrolyte ph. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 34(10), 875. doi:10.1007/s10854-023-10295-z

Skills

1. Experimental Skills

Scanning Electron Microscopy – Scanning electron imaging, Backscattered electron imaging, Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD), Fractography.

Transmission Electron Microscopy – Bright Field Imaging, Dark Field Imaging, EDS.

Optical Microscopy – Bright field, Dark field and Differential Imaging Contrast (DIC).

X-ray Diffraction – Standard measurement, Pole figure measurement, Residual stress measurement.

Universal Testing Machine (UTM) – Compression testing, Tensile test, Strain Rate Jump test and Strain Relaxation test

Indentation - Microindentation and NanoIndentation

Manufacturing Processes - Powder Metallugry (Shaping and Sintering), Rolling

2. Expertise on Important equipment

Independent operation on Transmission Electron Microscopy (FEI Tecnai T20) for two years at MSE department

Field Emission SEM (JEOL JSM-7100F) including Orientation Imaging Microscopy (OIM) and in-situ tensile testing for five years (Jan 2015 – Dec 2020) at Advanced Centre for Materials Science (ACMS), IIT Kanpur

Experience on Nova NanoSEM 450 (FE-SEM) for one year equipped with Hikari EBSD camera and Octan Plus for EDS

Experience on CARL ZEISS EVO 50 W-SEM for six month and JEOL JSM-6010LA W-SEM for two years

Experience of Nano-Indentor by Hysitron Ltd. (Model:TI 750) and Instrumented Micro-Indentation by CSM Instruments (Model:Micro Combi Tester)

Experience on collecting and analyzing macro texture from XRD and Neutron diffraction

3. Programming Skill

Python - Basic programming and Data Structure

Programming with MATLAB

Version Control System (Git and Github integration) (Audit from Coursera)

Basic coding in Fortran and C++

4. Simulation and Technical Analysis

Mean-Field Crystal Plasticity simulation - VPSC, EPSC and MTEx

Full-Field Crystal Plasticity simulation - VPFFT and DAMASK

Synthetic microstructure generation using Dream.3D, Neper and Voronoi Tessellation

EBSD analysis using TSL-OIM and MTEX

X-ray data analysis using X'Pert HighScore Plus

Image processing of microstructure using MATLAB and ImageJ

 

Certification from Coursera

 

Academic Responsibility at IIT Kanpur

Teaching Assistance (TA) for two semester in Nature and property of materials
Teaching Assistance (TA) for two semester in Introduction to Manufacturing Processes
Teaching Assistance (TA) for one semester in Manufacturing Process Lab
Teaching Assistance (TA) for one semester in Process metallurgy Lab
Tutor for three semester in Introduction to Manufacturing Processes Lab

Presentations

Poster Presentation

Mirtunjay Kumar, Nilesh P. Gurao, Anish Upadhyaya, “In-situ electron back scatter diffraction study of deformation behaviour of concentrated Ni-24W-22Fe alloy.” In 26th International Symposium on Metastable, Amorphous and Nanostructured Materials at IIT Madras. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4630117

Mirtunjay Kumar, Nilesh P. Gurao, Anish Upadhyaya, "Microstructure and texture analysis of deformation of Ni-W-Fe matrix alloy" In Microstructural Engineering 2018-19 at IIT Kanpur.

Mirtunjay Kumar, Nilesh P. Gurao, Anish Upadhyaya, "Towards a comprehensive understanding of the role of shear bands on recrystallization texture in Ni-24W-22Fe alloy." In 7th International Conference on Recrystallization and Grain Growth at University of Ghent, Belgium. DOI:dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4630023.

Oral Presentation

Mirtunjay Kumar, Nilesh P. Gurao, Anish Upadhyaya, "Microstructure and mechanical properties of W-Ni-Fe tungsten heavy alloy." in 46th Annual Technical Meeting of PMAI (PM2020) at Mumbai, India.

Mirtunjay Kumar, N. P. Gurao, A. Upadhyaya, "An automated methodology for assessing the microstructural attributes of liquid phase sintered microstructure." in Research Scholar Day 2020 at IIT Kanpur.

Mirtunjay Kumar, N. P. Gurao, A. Upadhyaya, "Development of Processing-Microstructure Mechanical behaviour Paradigms for Tungsten Heavy Alloys." in 5th International Conference on Powder Metallurgy in Asia (APMA 2019) at Pune, India

Mirtunjay Kumar, N. P. Gurao, A. Upadhyaya, "Understanding the role of shear bands on recrystallization texture of 54Ni-24W-22Fe alloy." in Research Scholar Day 2019 at IIT Kanpur

Mirtunjay Kumar, N. P. Gurao, A. Upadhyaya, "Deformation behaviour of dual phase tungsten heavy alloy." in NMD-ATM 2019 at Koavalam, Kerala.

Mirtunjay Kumar, N. P. Gurao*, A. Upadhyaya, "Effect of matrix volume fraction on deformation texture evolution in two phase tungsten heavy alloy." in 18th International Conference on Textures of Materials (ICOTOM-18) at St George, Utah, USA.

Mirtunjay Kumar, N. P. Gurao, A. Upadhyaya, "Rolling of liquid phase sintered 90W-7Ni-3Fe tungsten heavy alloy." in NMD-ATM 2016 at IIT Kanpur.

Mirtunjay Kumar, Anish Upadhyaya "Rolling of liquid phase sintered 90W-7Ni-3Fe tungsten heavy alloy." in NMD-ATM 2014 – COEP, Pune, India

Invited Speaker

SPARC Workshop 2023 on "Advanced Tools for Hierarchical Microstructure Characterization" jointly organized by IIT Roorkee and IIT Kanpur in March, 2023.

Invited lecture at NIT Warangal Organised by MME association jointly with IIM-Students Chapter, NITW on 15 December 2022

Guest Speaker in Material Advantage outreach Programme on topic "Correct and Incorrect Phase Diagrams Features" at UIET - CSJM University Kanpur in September 2019.

Certification

Specialization from Coursera

Digital Technologies and the Future of Manufacturing Specialization

Three Courses were Covered:

  1. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

  2. Digital Twins

  3. Additive Manufacturing

Standalone Courses from Coursera

  1. Getting Started with Python

  2. Python Data Structures

  3. Programming with MATLAB

  4. Introduction to advanced tomography (with Honors)

  5. Ferrous Technology I

  6. Ferrous Technology II

  7. Material Behavior

  8. Introduction to Git and GitHub

Languages

Hindi : Native
English : Fluent

Declaration

I hereby declare that the information furnished above is true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

References

Available on Request.