Contact Dr Yongle Sun
Areas of expertise
- Aerospace Manufacturing
- Computing, Simulation & Modelling
- Power Systems & Turbines
- Structures and Materials
- Welding and Laser Processing
Background
Dr Yongle Sun is a Lecturer in Additive Manufacture. He obtained BSc (2009) and MSc (2011) in Mechanics at Xi'an Jiaotong University and PhD (2015) in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Manchester. Before joining Cranfield University, he worked as a research associate in modelling of nuclear manufacturing processes at University of Manchester. His research is closely linked to energy (nuclear, gas, etc.) and aerospace industries.
Yongle has over 10 years research experience tackling the scientific and application challenges associated with engineering materials and manufacturing processes, broadly encompassing the mechanics and manufacturing techniques for metallic alloys, lightweight protective cellular solids, and thermal barrier coatings. These materials (or material systems) and the ways to process them play crucial roles in underpinning our energy and aerospace industries.
Yongle's research interest and expertise lie in revealing and utilising the relationships between manufacturing processes, micro-/meso-scale features and mechanical properties of engineering materials and structural components. He has been developing numerical and theoretical models capable of capturing multiple physical factors across different length and time scales, to understand key mechanisms controlling material behaviour and manufacturing quality, providing practical solutions to engineering problems. He is also actively involved in experimental characterisations and measurements to validate and complement the modelling of additive manufacturing, arc / laser / electron-beam welding, material response to impact loads, oxide growth-induced stress, etc.
Examples of Yongle's contribution to his research fields include: (1) simulation and elucidation of the mechanisms for rolling-enabled mitigation of residual stress and distortion in wire arc additive manufacturing; (2) development of modelling and controlling approaches to weld dilution, in-process tempering, inter-part opening/sliding gap distortion, and transient and residual stresses in fusion welding; (3) revealed small-scale mechanisms that determine the quasi-static and dynamic compressive behaviours of metallic foams and honeycombs; (4) gained better understanding of the oxide growth-induced stress, thermal / residual stress, and failure mechanism of thermal barrier coating systems.
Yongle's achievements in research have been demonstrated through scholarly / engineering publications and industrial applications. He is the first author of 16 research papers published in leading journals and a (corresponding) co-author of other 30 journal papers, with a H-index of 19 according to Google Scholar. His PhD research on image-based characterisation and modelling of lightweight energy-absorbing foam materials constituted part of the innovative application of new techniques in X-ray imaging, for which University of Manchester was awarded Queen's Anniversary Prizes, and Yongle was selected to attend the awarding ceremony held in Buckingham Palace. One of his first-authored papers is indexed as the No. 1 on the list of most cited International Journal of Impact Engineering Articles (those published after 2017). His research findings about arc and electron-beam welding have been applied in UK nuclear energy industry to address the technical challenges (e.g., welding quality and structural integrity) associated with new nuclear manufacturing, as part of the outcome from NNUMAN and MATTEAR projects with total funding of £9M.
Research opportunities
The following research topics are available for PhD study programme:
1. Modelling-informed efficient mitigation of residual stress and distortion in large-scale additive manufacturing;
2. Inherent strain method for efficient prediction and evaluation of residual stress and distortion in wire-based additive manufacturing;
3. Modelling of in-process rolling, peening, active cooling or other mechanical working and heat treatment for metal additive manufacturing;
4. Finite element heat source and weld bead profile modelling informed by molten pool fluid dynamics;
5. Lattice structure printing and optimisation using metal wire additive manufacturing;
6. Residual stress and distortion of additively manufactured parts made of alloys subject to solid state phase transformation;
7. Design, development and evaluation of hybrid additive manufacturing.
Applications for PhD study are welcome! The above research topics are closely linked to an ongoing £7M NEWAM research programme (https://newam.uk/).
Please contact Dr. Yongle Sun or the admission team of the Cranfield Manufacturing & Materials Theme for more details about the PhD research opportunity.
Current activities
Yongle's current research is focused on modelling and enhancing metal additive manufacturing (particularly for wire-based directed energy deposition) and its ancillary processes. He is working on developing mechanism-underpinned novel additive manufacturing process design and effective quality-improving techniques for additively manufactured components. He is bridging the highly predictive but less efficient mechanistic models at small scales, as derived from fundamental principles, with more versatile and efficient but partially empirical models at large scales, which are best suited for engineering analysis. Ultimately, his research would lead to an integrated cross-scale and multi-physics modelling approach for predicting, understanding and controlling the molten pool, grain growth, solid state phase transformation, distortion, and transient / residual stress, thereby enhancing metal additive manufacturing.
Yongle has been contributing to his research fields as an author of research papers, as wells as a reviewer for over 30 international journals (e.g., Additive Manufacturing, Acta Materialia, Virtual and Physical Prototyping, International Journal of Plasticity, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences). Currently, he is a co-investigator for three large research projects (total funding >£10M) on metal wire-based additive manufacturing (NEWAM, SAM and I-Break) and a referee for research proposals submitted to European Research Council. He has been actively engaging with energy and aerospace industries for applying his research outcomes in making real-world difference.
Yongle also serves the research / industry community through the following roles:
- Member, Manufacturing Process Simulation Working Group and Metallic Additive Manufacturing Focus Group; NAFEMS, 2020 - Present
- Member, BSI WEE/37/-/4 Residual Stress Panel; The British Standards Institution, 2022 - Present
- Topic / Review Editor, Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering, Frontiers in Materials; Frontiers Media S.A., 2020 - Present
- Topic / Guest Editor, (1) Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing; (2) Coatings; (3) Metals. MDPI, 2020 - Present
Clients
- GE Avio Aero
- WAAM3D
- Airbus
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Innovate UK
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Lu P, Jin X, Li P, Sun Y & Fan X. (2023). Crystal plasticity constitutive model and thermodynamics informed creep-fatigue life prediction model for Ni-based single crystal superalloy. International Journal of Fatigue, 176(November)
- Chen G, Ding J, Sun Y, Chen X, Wang C, .... (2023). Efficient reduced-order thermal modelling of scanning laser melting for additive manufacturing. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 321(December)
- M. Haghighi A, Ding J, Sun Y, Wang C & Williams S. (2023). Thermo-capillary-gravity bidirectional modelling for evaluation and design of wire-based directed energy deposition additive manufacturing. Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 107(December)
- Gornyakov V, Sun Y, Ding J & Williams S. (2022). Efficient determination and evaluation of steady-state thermal–mechanical variables generated by wire arc additive manufacturing and high pressure rolling. Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering, 30(1)
- Gornyakov V, Ding J, Sun Y & Williams S. (2022). Understanding and designing post-build rolling for mitigation of residual stress and distortion in wire arc additively manufactured components. Materials & Design, 213(January)
- Wang C, Sun Y, Chen G, Chen X, Ding J, .... (2022). A simplified modelling approach for thermal behaviour analysis in hybrid plasma arc-laser additive manufacturing. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 195(October)
- Sun Y, Smith M, Dutilleul T & Jones S. (2022). Assessing and mitigating the distortion and stress during electron beam welding of a large shell-flange structure. International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping, 199(October)
- Gornyakov V, Sun Y, Ding J & Williams S. (2022). Modelling and optimising hybrid process of wire arc additive manufacturing and high-pressure rolling. Materials & Design, 223(November)
- Feng J, Li L, Chen Y, Tian Y, Sun Y, .... (2021). Inhomogeneous microstructure and fatigue crack propagation of thick-section high strength steel joint welded using double-sided hybrid fiber laser-arc welding. Optics & Laser Technology, 134
- Jiang P, Yang L, Sun Y, Li D & Wang T. (2021). Nondestructive measurements of residual stress in air plasma‐sprayed thermal barrier coatings. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 104(3)
- Zhao Y, Sun F, Jiang P & Sun Y. (2021). Effects of Roughness on Stresses in an Oxide Scale Formed on a Superalloy Substrate. Coatings, 11(4)
- Bai M, Chen Y, Sun Y & Xiao P. (2021). Mitigation of Platinum Depletion in Platinum Diffused Single Phase Bond Coat on CMSX-4 Superalloy. Coatings, 11(6)
- Jin X, Yang J, Sun Y, Li P, Hou C, .... (2021). Fabrication and characterisation of high-performance joints made of ZrB2-SiC ultra-high temperature ceramics. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 41(15)
- Liu P, Jiang P, Sun Y, Xu R, Wang T, .... (2021). Numerical Analysis of stress evolution in thermal barrier coating system during two-stage growth of heterogeneous oxide. Ceramics International, 47(10)
- Gornyakov V, Sun Y, Ding J & Williams S. (2021). Computationally Efficient Models of High Pressure Rolling for Wire Arc Additively Manufactured Components. Applied Sciences, 11(1)
- Sun YL, Vasileiou AN, Pickering EJ, Collins J, Obasi G, .... (2021). Impact of weld restraint on the development of distortion and stress during the electron beam welding of a low-alloy steel subject to solid state phase transformation. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, 196
- Jiang P, Yang L, Sun Y, Li D & TiejunWang . (2021). Local residual stress evolution of highly irregular thermally grown oxide layer in thermal barrier coatings. Ceramics International, 47(8)
- Sun YL, Hamelin CJ, Vasileiou AN, Xiong Q, Flint TF, .... (2020). Effects of dilution on the hardness and residual stresses in multipass steel weldments. International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping, 187
- Flint TF, Sun YL, Xiong Q, Smith MC & Francis JA. (2019). Phase-Field Simulation of Grain Boundary Evolution In Microstructures Containing Second-Phase Particles with Heterogeneous Thermal Properties. Scientific Reports, 9(1)
- Rathod DW, Sun Y, Obasi G & Roy MJ. (2019). Effect of multiple passes on Lüders/yield plateaus, microstructure and tensile behaviour of narrow-gap thick-section weld plates. Journal of Materials Science, 54(19)
- Wang X, Fan X, Sun Y, Xu R & Jiang P. (2019). Modelling and analysis of the oxide growth coupling behaviour of thermal barrier coatings. Journal of Materials Science, 54(14)
- Sun YL, Obasi G, Hamelin CJ, Vasileiou AN, Flint TF, .... (2019). Characterisation and modelling of tempering during multi-pass welding. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 270
- Sun YL, Hamelin CJ, Flint TF, Vasileiou AN, Francis JA, .... (2019). Prediction of Dilution and Its Impact on the Metallurgical and Mechanical Behavior of a Multipass Steel Weldment. Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology, 141(6)
- Xu , Meng , Yang , Zhang , Fan , .... (2019). Elasto-Plastic Behaviour of Transversely Isotropic Cellular Materials with Inner Gas Pressure. Metals, 9(8)
- Jin XC, Sun YL, Hou C, Wang XB, He GY, .... (2019). Investigation into cooling-rate dependent residual stresses in ZrB2–SiC composites using improved Raman spectroscopy method. Ceramics International, 45(17)
- Ge W, Wang L, Sun Y & Liu X. (2019). An efficient method to generate random distribution of fibers in continuous fiber reinforced composites. Polymer Composites, 40(12)
- Xie F, Sun Y, Li D, Bai Y & Zhang W. (2019). Modelling of catastrophic stress development due to mixed oxide growth in thermal barrier coatings. Ceramics International, 45(9)
- Meng KP, Chai CG, Sun YL, Wang W, Wang QY, .... (2019). Cutting-induced end surface effect on compressive behaviour of aluminium foams. European Journal of Mechanics - A/Solids, 75
- Obasi G, Pickering EJ, Vasileiou AN, Sun YL, Rathod D, .... (2019). Measurement and Prediction of Phase Transformation Kinetics in a Nuclear Steel During Rapid Thermal Cycles. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 50(4)
- Sun YL, Obasi G, Hamelin CJ, Vasileiou AN, Flint TF, .... (2019). Effects of dilution on alloy content and microstructure in multi-pass steel welds. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 265
- Chen Y, Fan X, Sun Y & Zhang W. (2018). Effect of tensile load on high temperature oxidation of CoNiCrAlY coating. Surface and Coatings Technology, 352
- Jin X, Hou C, Fan X, Sun Y, Lv J, .... (2018). Investigation on the static and dynamic behaviors of non-pneumatic tires with honeycomb spokes. Composite Structures, 187
- Sun Y & Li QM. (2018). Dynamic compressive behaviour of cellular materials: A review of phenomenon, mechanism and modelling. International Journal of Impact Engineering, 112
- Jiang P, Fan X, Sun Y, Wang H, Su L, .... (2018). Thermal‐cycle dependent residual stress within the crack‐susceptible zone in thermal barrier coating system. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 101(9)
- Jiang P, Fan X, Sun Y, Li D & Wang T. (2018). Bending-driven failure mechanism and modelling of double-ceramic-layer thermal barrier coating system. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 130-131
- Sun YL, Roy MJ, Vasileiou AN, Smith MC, Francis JA, .... (2017). Evaluation of Errors Associated with Cutting-Induced Plasticity in Residual Stress Measurements Using the Contour Method. Experimental Mechanics, 57(5)
- Feng JC, Rathod DW, Roy MJ, Francis JA, Guo W, .... (2017). An evaluation of multipass narrow gap laser welding as a candidate process for the manufacture of nuclear pressure vessels. International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping, 157
- Jiang P, Fan X, Sun Y, Li D, Li B, .... (2017). Competition mechanism of interfacial cracks in thermal barrier coating system. Materials & Design, 132
- Sun Y, Zhang X, Shao Z & Li QM. (2017). Image-based correlation between the meso-scale structure and deformation of closed-cell foam. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 688
- Sun Y, Amirrasouli B, Razavi SB, Li QM, Lowe T, .... (2016). The variation in elastic modulus throughout the compression of foam materials. Acta Materialia, 110
- Sun Y, Li QM, Lowe T, McDonald SA & Withers PJ. (2016). Investigation of strain-rate effect on the compressive behaviour of closed-cell aluminium foam by 3D image-based modelling. Materials & Design, 89
- Sun Y, Li QM, McDonald SA & Withers PJ. (2016). Determination of the constitutive relation and critical condition for the shock compression of cellular solids. Mechanics of Materials, 99
- Wang T, Fan X, Sun Y, Su L, Song Y, .... (2016). The stresses and cracks in thermal barrier coating system: a review. Guti Lixue Xuebao/Acta Mechanica Solida Sinica, 37(6)
- Sun Y & Li QM. (2015). Effect of entrapped gas on the dynamic compressive behaviour of cellular solids. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 63
- Su L, Zhang W, Sun Y & Wang TJ. (2014). Effect of TGO creep on top-coat cracking induced by cyclic displacement instability in a thermal barrier coating system. Surface and Coatings Technology, 254
- Sun Y, Li J, Zhang W & Wang TJ. (2013). Local stress evolution in thermal barrier coating system during isothermal growth of irregular oxide layer. Surface and Coatings Technology, 216
- Sun Y, Zhang W, Li J & Wang TJ. (2013). Local stress around cap-like portions of anisotropically and nonuniformly grown oxide layer in thermal barrier coating system. Journal of Materials Science, 48(17)
Conference Papers
- Vasileiou AN, Hamelin CJ, Smith MC, Francis JA, Sun YL, .... (2020). Electron beam weld modelling of ferritic steel: effect of prior-austenite grain size on transformation kinetics
- Sun YL, Vasileiou AN, Collins J, Obasi G, Pickering EJ, .... (2019). Modelling of electron beam welding for advanced nuclear reactors
- Sun Y, Hamelin CJ, Smith MC, Vasileiou AN, Flint TF, .... (2018). Modelling of Dilution Effects on Microstructure and Residual Stress in a Multi-Pass Weldment
- Sun Y, Smith MC, Flint TF, Hamelin CJ, Vasileiou AN, .... (2018). Modelling of dilution effects on microstructure and residual stress in a multi-pass weldment
- Smith MC, Vasileiou AN, Rathod DW, Francis J, Irvine NM, .... (2017). A Review of Welding Research Within the New Nuclear Manufacturing (NNUMAN) Programme
- Sun Y, Hamelin CJ, Smith MC & Edwards L. (2016). Predicting an Optimal Inter-Pass Temperature to Mitigate Residual Stress and Distortion in Ferritic Steel Weldments
- Sun Y, Li QM & Withers PJ. (2015). Strain-rate sensitivity of foam materials: A numerical study using 3D image-based finite element model
- Zhang WX, Sun YL & Wang TJ. (2011). Effect of Spinel Growth on the Delamination of Thermal Barrier Coatings
- Sun YL, Zhang WX, Tian M & Wang TJ. (2011). Thermal Cycling Induced Crack Nucleation and Propagation in Thermal Barrier Coating System
Books
- Sun YL, Hamelin CJ, Flint TF, Xiong Q, Vasileiou AN, .... (2019). Multi-pass ferritic steel weld modelling: Phase transformation and residual stress In Mathematical modelling of weld phenomena 12. Verlag.
- Flint TF, Xiong Q, Sun YL, Vasileiou AN, Smith MC, .... (2019). Prediction of grain boundary evolution in an titanium alloy substrate using a novel phase field model coupled with a semi-analytical thermal solution In Mathematical Modelling of Weld Phenomena 12. Verlag.
- Sun YL, Lowe T, McDonald SA, Li QM & Withers PJ. (2014). In Situ Investigation and Image-Based Modelling of Aluminium Foam Compression Using Micro X-Ray Computed Tomography In Rodrigues Leta F(ed.), Augmented Vision and Reality (4). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.