Contact Christian Micallef
Areas of expertise
- Nanomaterials
- Nanotechnology
- Precision Engineering
- Surface Engineering
Background
Prior to starting my PhD course at Cranfield, I have worked in industry as a Research and Development Engineer at Hardide Coatings - A coatings company which applies advanced technology tungsten/tungsten carbide coatings to a wide range of engineering components through a Chemical Vapour Deposition technology. My main role within the company was to oversee new research projects aimed at developing new coating variants and new applications. During this time I have gained experience in surface engineering and analytical skills. I have also gained experience in metallurgy lab work and surface characterisation mainly using optical microscopy, SEM, EDS, XRF, micro hardness testing and crystallographic preparation equipment.
Whilst remaining an employee of Hardide during my time as a PhD student at Cranfield I will be researching a new aspect of the coating which is the post-coating finishing stage, aimed at achieving precise dimensions with high surface finish on complex shape coated parts. As an academic in the surface engineering and precision institute at Cranfield I will be studying non-conventional machining techniques which will ultimately be used on an industrial scale.
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Micallef C, Zhuk Y & Aria AI (2022) Surface finishing and tool wear in single point diamond turning of chemical vapour deposited tungsten carbide hard coatings, Surface and Coatings Technology, 447 (October) Article No. 128864. Dataset/s: 10.17862/cranfield.rd.20931634
- Micallef C, Walton K, Zhuk Y & Aria IA (2022) Surface finishing and residual stress improvement of chemical vapour deposited tungsten carbide hard coatings by vibratory polishing, Surface and Coatings Technology, 439 (June) Article No. 128447. Dataset/s: 10.17862/cranfield.rd.19597210
- Micallef C, Chiu C-W, Zhuk Y & Aria AI (2021) Rapid surface finishing of chemical vapour deposited tungsten carbide hard coatings by electropolishing, Surface and Coatings Technology, Available online 15 November 2021 Article No. 127900.
- Micallef C, Zhuk Y & Aria I (2020) Recent progress in precision machining and surface finishing of tungsten carbide hard composite coatings, Coatings, 10 (8) Article No. 731.
- Micallef C, Zhuk YN & Wood RJK (2019) Galling resistance of nanostructured CVD tungsten/tungsten carbide coatings, Surface Topography: Metrology and Properties, 7 (2) Article No. 025004.
