Dr. W. D. Griffiths has been involved in heat transfer and solidification research for the past 30 years. The theme running through this research is the identification and study of the mechanisms that control metallurgical processes. Dr. Griffiths obtained a PhD studying the residual stresses in steel quenched in water-soluble polymer quenchants, and has since worked in both industry and academia on understanding metallurgical processes.
This has included positions at Foseco International working in light alloys, and Nottingham University researching the application of electromagnetic stirring to Direct Chill cast Al. Most recently Dr. Griffiths was the Federal-Mogul Senior Research Fellow at UMIST, researching interfacial heat transfer in light alloy and ferrous casting, and currently works at the University of Birmingham as a Senior Lecturer.
At the University of Birmingham, research has been focussed on five areas;
(1) Interfacial heat transfer, and particularly the enhancement of heat transfer by casting in an atmosphere of He.
(2) Oxide film defects in light alloys, aimed at finding additions to neutralise or ameliorate these defects.
(3) The Lost Foam casting process.
(4) The application of Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) to the casting process. This is a technique for tracking radioactively labelled particles inserted into liquid metal, with which we collaborate with the Positron Imaging Centre, (Prof. David Parker).
(5). The effect of the application of ultrasound on the properties of light alloy and ferrous castings.
To date, over 100 journal and conference papers have been published.