W.  GEORGE  FERGUSON

Professor

BSc, BE (Hons) N.Z., PhD, FIM, FIEAust, CEng, MIPENZ.

Room:             1.708

Ext.                 88133

Email:

PRESENT POSITION

Professor of Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, The University of Auckland.

 

PREVIOUS POSITIONS

Visiting Professor,1997, School of Metallurgy and Materials, Faculty of Engineering, University of Birmingham. Research and Study leave (3 months).

Visiting Professor, 1986, 1989, 1990,1994, 1996, 2000, Mechanical Engineering Dept., University of Tokushima, Japan.  Collaborative Research Projects funded by Monbusho (visits 2 to 4 weeks duration).

Visiting Professor, 1983, Dept. of Metallurgy, University of Sheffield & British Steel Corporation, Research Labs, Swinden House, Rotherham. Research & Study Leave

Associate Professor 1996– 2000, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, The University of Auckland

Senior Lecturer 1975, Metallurgy and Materials Department, Cambridge University. Research and Study Leave

Senior Lecturer, 1970-1975, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, The University of Auckland.

Lecturer, 1968-1969, Dept. of Chemical and Materials Engineering, The University of Auckland.

Research Fellow ,1966-1968, Engineering Science Department, Oxford University, U.K.

Postdoctoral Research Metallurgist ,1964-1966, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, USA .

Teaching Assistant, 1962-1964, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, PhD Research, University of Auckland.

 

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS & ACTIVITIES

CEng, Chartered Engineer

FIM, Fellow Institute of Materials

FIEAust, Fellow Institution of Engineers, Australia

MIPENZ, Member Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand

Sigma Xi, Member, Sigma Xi Berkeley, USA

Council, The International Congress of Fracture(ICF)

Committee, Australian Fracture Group Inc.

 

EXTERNAL ACTIVITIES

Editorial Advisory Board: Materials Forum

 

Referee:

IPENZ Transactions

-               Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering, Materials and Structures

-               Foundation for Research Science and Technology

-               Australian Research Council, Research Grants Committee

-               South Pacific Journal of Natural Science

 

TEACHING ACTIVITIES AND SUPERVISION

University Courses: Main teaching experience gained in undergraduate(at all levels of the degree) and graduate materials courses, where because the Department had just been established when appointed, has been involved with extensive development of laboratories, equipment and curriculum.  Has made a significant contribution to curriculum development in all subsequent course restructuring.  Has also at the undergraduate level taught sundry other engineering courses, such as statistical thermodynamics, engineering thermodynamics, heat transfer, geothermal materials, tutoring in engineering mechanics and contributing to design courses at all levels of the undergraduate degree. Also teaching materials in a Part I Physics paper.

Research Supervision:

Year IV, UG Research Projects:  about 87 students.  ME Theses (completed & in progress):  25 students.  PhD Dissertations (completed & in progress)  8 students.  Research Fellows:  5 fellows

Professional Courses: Has taken an active part in professional engineering courses organised by the Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) as this aspect of teaching is considered to be an integral part of the responsibilities of a lecturer in Engineering.  Has contributed to over 37, one day to one week long, professional development courses such as introductory metallurgy, fracture mechanics, welding, stainless steel, corrosion, failure analysis, fatigue and materials selection.

 

RESEARCH EXPERTISE

The mechanical performance of materials including the relationship of properties of materials to microstructure and processing, especially fracture toughness and fatigue behaviour, including environmental effects and high temperature behaviour.  Materials studied include metals and alloys, Pinus radiata, plastics and metal matrix composites.  A major research programme is the investigation of corrosion-fatigue in steels used in off-shore structures and magnesium alloys in sea water.  Extensive work has been done on the fracture toughness of Pinus radiata and a fundamental theory developed to explain the dependence of the strength of the wood on temperature, moisture content and strain rate.  Present research also centres on the properties of steel and magnesium especially at high temperature, the modification of surfaces with ceramic thin films, ceramic fibre-metal matrix composites, damping capacity of lead-rubber bearings, application of fracture mechanics to wood, environmental performance of wood adhesives and the response of welded joints to an earthquake loading environment.

 

RESEARCH SPONSORS

Numerous research grants from The University Grants Committee, The University of Auckland Research Committee, Lotteries Research Committee, Forest Research Institute, Industrial Research Ltd, Maui Development, BHP NZ Steel, Mag Tech, Glucina Smelters, HERA and Tokushima University, Japan. Total in excess of $2.5 million.

 

CONSULTING AND INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS:

Numerous consulting commissions in the field of fracture mechanics and fatigue.

 

PUBLICATIONS

Books, Research and Technical Papers(refereed): Number 122. Significant publications are listed below.  Technical Reports(of significance): Number 17.  The technical research reports relate to work done at Berkeley, Cambridge, British Steel Corporation and for a Maui Development Environmental and Engineering Study.  Consulting Reports (of significance): Number 26.  The consulting reports relate to work commissioned usually by Consulting Engineers and executed through UniServices Ltd.  This work has in the main, been commissioned because of my expertise in the field of fracture mechanics and fatigue.

 

Major Publications:

Books:

"Metals and Energy", Ed. W.G. Ferguson, Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Australasian Institute of Metals, University of Auckland ISBN 0-86869-010-4 (1980)

"Second NZ Metals and Materials Symposium", Ed. M. Assefpour-Dezfuly, W.G. Ferguson and R.M. Sharp Proceedings of the Second NZ Metals and Materials Symposium Australasian Institute of Metals, University of Auckland 4-5 Sept (1985)

“Advanced Materials Development and Performance”, Ed. W.G. Ferguson and W. Gao.  Proceedings of an International Conference on Advanced Materials Development and Performance Evaluation and Application, ISBN 0 – 86869 – 0686, CCE, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, 14-15 July (1997) 0 –512.

 

Research and Technical Papers:

1.            "Dislocation Damping in Aluminium at High Strain Rates", W.G. Ferguson, A.. Kumar and J.E. Dorn, J. Appl. Phys., 38 (1967) 1863.

2.            "Dislocation Damping in Zinc Single Crystals", W.G. Ferguson, F.E. Hauser and J.E. Dorn, Brit. J. Appl. Phys., 18 (1967) 411.

3.            "The Temperature and Strain-Rate Dependence of the Shear Strength of Mild Steel", J.D. Campbell and W.G. Ferguson, Phil.Mag., 21 (1970) 63.

4.            "The Effect of Velocity on the Width of a Dissociated Dislocation", W.G. Ferguson, Scripta Metallurgical, 5 (1971) 441.

5.            "Fracture Toughness of Comsteel En 25", W.G. Ferguson and M.N. Sargisson, Eng. Fract. Mechanics, 5 (1973) 362

6.            "Effect of Austenitising Temperature on Toughness of Martensitic Steels", W.G. Ferguson, N.E. Clark and B.R. Watson, Metals Technology, 3 (1976) 208.

7.            "The Fracture Toughness and HY-60", P.N. Thorby and W.G. Ferguson, Mat.Sci and Eng. 22 (1976) 177.

8.            "The Application of the Rate Theory of Deformation to the Yield Behaviour of Wood", W.G. Ferguson and F.K. Yew J. Mat. Sci., 12 (1977) 264.

9.            "Ductile Crack Initiation in Pressure Vessel Steels", G. Clark, S.M. El Soudani, W.G. Ferguson, R.F. Smith and J.F. Knott. Conf. on Tolerance of Flaws in Pressurised Components, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London  16-18 May (1978) 105-115.

10.        "The Inadequacy of the Plane-Strain Fracture Toughness Test Requirements", M.O. Lai and W.G. Ferguson, Engineering Fracture Mechanics,13 (1980) 285-292.

11.        "Relationship between Shear Lip Size and Fracture Toughness" M.O. Lai and W.G. Ferguson Materials Science and Engineering, 45 (1980) 183-188.

12.        "On the J-Integral Blunting Line for Soft Materials", D.M. O'Brien and W.G. Ferguson Int J. of Fracture 20 (1982) R39-R43.

13.        “Modified Manjoine WOL Specimen for JIc and di Tests", D.M. O'Brien and W.G. Ferguson Eng. Fracture Mechanics,18 (1983) 453-465.

14.        "Relationship between Fracture Topography and Fracture Toughness of a High Strength Steel", M.O. Lai and W.G. Ferguson J. of Materials Science,20 (1985) 1985-1992.

15.        "Fracture Toughness of Aluminium Alloy 7075-T6 in the As-Cast Condition", M.O. Lai and W.G. Ferguson Materials Science and Engineering,74 (1985) 133-138.

16.        "Effect of Specimen Thickness on Fracture Toughness", M.O. Lai and W.G. Ferguson Eng. Fracture Mechanics 23 (1986) 649-659.

17.        "Environmentally Assisted Crack Growth in a Martensitic Stainless Steel", C.J. Thomas, R.G.J. Edyvean, R. Brook and W.G. Ferguson Material Science and Engineering,78 (1986) 55-63.

18.        "The Effects of Cathodic Potential and Calcareous Deposits on Corrosion Fatigue Crack Growth Rate in Seawater for Two Offshore Structural Steels", R. Murakami and W.G. Ferguson Fatigue Fract. Engng Mater. Struct. 9 (1987) 477-488.

19.        "Fatigue Crack Propagation and Crack Closure Behaviour in Polycarbonate and Fiber Reinforced Polycarbonate", R. Murakami, S. Noguchi, K. Akizono and W.G. Ferguson Fatigue Fract. Engng Mater. Struct. 10 (1987) 461-470.

20.        "Effect of Low Concentrations of Hydrogen Sulphide in Seawater on Fatigue Crack Growth in a C-Mn Structural Steel", M.Assefpour-Dezfuly and W.G. Ferguson Corrosion - NACE 44 (1988) 443-449.

21.        "The effects of microstructure and fracture surface roughness on near threshhold fatigue crack propagation characteristics of a two-phase cast stainless steel", R. Murakami, Y.H. Kim and W.G. Ferguson. Fatigue Fract. Engng Mater. Struct. 14 (1991) 741-748.

22.        "The effects of a marine environment on the corrosion fatigue crack propagation rate of pure titanium and its weld metal, R. Murakami and W.G. Ferguson.  Fatigue Fract. Engng Mater. Struct. 16 (1993) 255-265.

23.        "The effects of residual stresses on the fatigue behaviour of rectangular hollow sections", D. Bhattacharyya, W.G. Ferguson and Li Pu. Mat. Forum -17 (1994) 395-401.

24.        “Hardness characterisation of thin carbon coatings", K.L. Dahm, W.G. Ferguson, R. Murakami and P.A. Dearnley. Surface Engineering, (1994)  Vol.10 No.3 pp 199-204.

25.        “Effects of notch radii on fatigue strength and crack initiation of nitrogen ion implanted pure titanium”, K. Futagami, R. Murakami, Y. Yoneda, A. Katsumura and W.G. Ferguson.  Proc., of 7th Inter. Conf. on Mech. Behaviour of Materials (ICM7), Hague, The Netherlands, May 28 - June 2 (1995) 21-22.

26.        “Effects of notch radius on fatigue life and early crack growth behaviour of pure titanium implanted with nitrogen ions”, K. Futagami, R. Murakami, Y. Morikawa, A. Kawahito, W.G. Ferguson, M Yoneda and M. Katsumura. The JSME, 61-578A (1995) 1511.

27.        “Chip formation in the machining of SiC-particulate-reinforced aluminium-matrix composites” J.T. Lin, D. Bhattacharyya and W.G. Ferguson, Composites Science and Technology, 58 (1998) 285-291

28.        “High strain shear of lead” M.D. Monti, I.R. Shaw, W.G. Ferguson and W.H. Robinson, Modeling the Mechanical Response of  Structural Materials, Ed. Eric M. Taleff and Rao K. Mahidhara, 127th TMS Annual Meeting, San Antonio, ISBN 0-87339-392-9 (1998) 63-70

29.        “Finger joint geometry for optimum results” A.H. Bryant, R.D. Hunt, Li Hong Shi and W.G. Ferguson, Proceedings of 5th World Conference on Timber Engineering, Ed J. Natterer and J-L. Sandoz, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, ISBN 2-88074-387-7, V2, August (1998) 198-205

30.        “Corrosion fatigue of two high strength offshore structural steels in seawater”, A. Chan and W.G. Ferguson, Proceedings of the Eight International Conference on the Mechanical Behaviour of Materials(ICM8), Ed: F. Ellyin & J.W. Provan, Victoria, BC, Canada, ISBN 1-55058-163-5,V1, May (1999) 387-392

31.    “Effect of nitrogen ion implantation on fatigue crack initiation and early crack growth  behaviour of high tensile strength steel”, R. Murakami, T. Nozu, M. Kondou and W.G. Ferguson, Trans. of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, 65-640 A, (1999) 2511-2517

32    “The peculiarities of tungsten’s influence on phase transformations and mechanical properties of  the directionally solidified HCR nickel-base alloy”, V.V. Ivanov and W.G. Ferguson, High Temperature Materials and Processes, 19 (2000) 101-110

33     “Corrosion fatigue of high pressure die cast magnesium alloys”, W. G. Ferguson, Wu Liu, Philip Ross and John MacCulloch, 2001 TMS Annual Meeting, Magnesium Technology 2001, Ed John N Hryn. TMS, ISBN 0-87339-481-X, New Orleans, Louisiana, 11th-15th February (2001) 269 - 274

34     "Modelling cyclic behaviour of materials with deformation and thermal histories", X. J. Zhang and W.G. Ferguson, Int. J of Materials Processing Technology, V117, No 3 (2001) CD- ROM

35                Corrosion-fatigue performance of die cast magnesium alloys", W G Ferguson, W Liu and J MacCulloch, 10th International Conference on Fracture (ICF10), Advances in Fracture Research, Ed. K Ravi-Chandar, B L Karihaloo, T Kishi, R O Ritchie, A T Yokobori Jr and T Yokobori, Elsevier Science, Honolulu, 2nd - 6th December (2001) 594, CD – ROM

 

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