Rakesh Kumar
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Area of Specialisation: Discrete Dislocation Plasticity Modelling of Irradiation Hardening and Delayed Hydride Cracking.
Working across Key Challenge 2 and Key Challenge 4.
Rakesh Kumar joined MIDAS as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London, having received his PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar in September 2020. His research is focused on developing theoretical and computational models using dislocation mechanics and the elastic field theory of crystal defects to predict, characterise, quantify and understand irradiation hardening and delayed hydride cracking in zirconium alloys. Development of these models is important in furthering understanding of how the alloys behave in reactor conditions, and so feeds strongly into a number of key MIDAS areas.
During his PhD, Rakesh developed a strain-gradient-based crystal plasticity model coupled with a hydrogen transport model to study the hydrogen distribution and associated damage in metallic microstructures, broadly termed hydrogen embrittlement, a prominent problem in industrial metals and alloys.