Professor Kathy Christofidou
PhD, MEng, MBA
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Chair in Digital and Sustainable Metallurgy and Advanced Metals Processing Research Area Lead for Royce at the University of Sheffield
Full contact details
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
- Profile
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Katerina (Kathy) Christofidou joined the department in 2019, and was appointed Chair in Digital and Sustainable Metallurgy in April 2024. She is currently the Director of Recruitment for the department and leads the Advanced Metals Processing research area for the Henry Royce Institute.
Prior to this, she held roles at the University of Cambridge, as part of the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre, and the University of Manchester, where she also worked in close collaboration with the Henry Royce Institute.
She holds a PhD in Metallurgy from the University of Cambridge and an MEng in Aerospace Materials Engineering from Imperial College London.
Kathy's research focuses on bridging high performance alloy design and advanced manufacturing following two key strands; a) accelerated. digitalised methods of alloy development with emphasis on manufacturing performance and b) advanced diffraction methods for non-destructive alloy evaluation applied to high performance components.
As part of her collaboration with Rolls-Royce PLC, she has developed new polycrystalline Ni-based superalloys for turbine disc applications, as well as exploring strategies for the design of high-temperature materials amenable to laser-based additive layer manufacturing. Her work in this area was recognised with the 2022 IOM3 Grünfeld Award and Medal highlighting her contributions and impact to industry.
In addition, a major area of her research interests is that of high entropy alloys and the possibilities that these materials offer for expanding our understanding of physical metallurgy beyond a single base element and the associated thermodynamic principles governing this behaviour.
- Research interests
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- High performance structural metallics including Ni and Co-based superalloys, High Entropy Alloys/Multi-principal element alloys, Cu-based alloys
- Additive Manufacturing
- Alloy design and microstructure engineering
- Advanced Diffraction Techniques
- Digital Metallurgy and High throughput testing methodologies
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Microstructural control of LPBF Inconel 718 through post processing of intentionally placed AM discontinuity distributions. Materialia, 102163-102163.
- Design and selection of high entropy alloys for hardmetal matrix applications using a coupled machine learning and CALPHAD methodology. Advanced Engineering Materials. View this article in WRRO
- Surveying the effects of aging a high C-containing co-based superalloy from the As-cast and solution heat-treated conditions. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 55(3), 791-802. View this article in WRRO
- On the surface integrity of machined aero-engine grade Ni-based superalloy billets produced by the field-assisted sintering technology (FAST) route. Procedia CIRP, 123, 310-315.
- Controlling grain structure in metallic additive manufacturing using a versatile, inexpensive process control system. Scientific Reports, 13.
- Data on the effect of NbC inoculants on the elastic and microstructural evolution of LBP-DED IN718. Data in Brief, 109299-109299.
- Tools for the assessment of the laser printability of nickel superalloys. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A.
- Insights in α-Al2O3 degradation in multilayer CVD coated carbide tools when turning IN718. Wear, 204786-204786.
- Effect of NbC Inoculants on the Elastic Properties and Microstructure of Additively Manufactured IN718. Materialia, 101701-101701.
- Hardness variation in inconel 718 produced by laser directed energy deposition. Materialia, 26.
- Design of a Ni-based superalloy for laser repair applications using probabilistic neural network identification. Data-Centric Engineering, 3.
- Phase stability of the AlxCrFeCoNi alloy system. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 926.
- Supervised machine learning for multi-principal element alloy structural design. Materials Science and Technology.
- Metallurgical developments in steam-methane reformer tube alloys. Materials Science and Technology.
- Elasticity, acoustic loss and γ′ dissolution in superalloys from resonant ultrasound spectroscopy. Materials Science and Technology.
- Microstructural Evaluation of Thermal-Sprayed CoCrFeMnNi0.8V High-Entropy Alloy Coatings. Coatings, 13(6), 1004-1004.
- Correction: Tools for the Assessment of the Laser Printability of Nickel Superalloys. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A.
- The Microstructural Evolution of CM247LC Manufactured Through Laser Powder Bed Fusion. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A.
Chapters
- Alloys: The superalloys, Encyclopedia of Condensed Matter Physics (pp. 583-600). Elsevier
Conference proceedings papers
- The Relationship Between Strain-Age Cracking and the Evolution of γ′ in Laser Powder-Bed-Fusion Processed Ni-Based Superalloys (pp 822-835)
- Eutectic Superalloys for Laser Powder Bed Fusion (pp 860-870)
Preprints
- Controlling grain structure in metallic additive manufacturing using a simple, inexpensive process control system, Research Square Platform LLC.
- Microstructural Control of LPBF IN718 Through Post Processing of Intentionally Placed Am Discontinuity Distributions.
- Hardness Variation in DED Produced Inconel 718.
- Microstructural control of LPBF Inconel 718 through post processing of intentionally placed AM discontinuity distributions. Materialia, 102163-102163.
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Member of the IoM3 Materials Chemistry Committee
- Member of the TMS High Temperature Alloys Committee
- Recipient of funding allocation from the Women in Engineering Visitor Funding Scheme at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- 2019 Materials travel award