

Professor Soran Birosca
Biography
I joined the School of Mechanical and Design Engineering in the Faculty of Technology at the University of Portsmouth in July 2020 as a Professor of Advanced Manufacturing.
Previously, I was an Associate Professor in Material Engineering in the College of Engineering at Swansea University. Prior to that, I held several research roles in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge, the School of Materials at University of Manchester, and the Materials Design Laboratory at Pohang University of Science and Technology (South Korea).
I hold a PhD degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Loughborough University, an MSc degree from the University of Manchester in Corrosion Science and Engineering, and a BSc degree from Salahaddin University in Mechanical Engineering.
Research interests
Currently I lead Materials Design & Characterisation (MD&C) Research Group within the School of Mechanical and Design Engineering. My research portfolio over recent years has mainly focused on advanced manufacturing, materials characterisation, physical metallurgy, materials processing, materials performance and integrity, casting technology, forging, phase transformation and heat treatment, structure/property relationship, advance manufacturing, mechanical property of materials, deformation mechanism, microtexture and texture analysis for the materials used in power generation, automotive and aero-engine applications.
My key research area is the microstructure/microtexture characterisation of materials to ascertain exact structure/property relationship in various alloys. I focus on understanding and predicting microstructure and texture evolution during material processing, deformation and heat treatment as a foundation of materials property optimisation, designing new alloys as well as the development of the processing and joining techniques. A combination of electron microscopy and diffraction-based techniques (including SEM, EDS, HR-EBSD, TEM, XRD, EMPA, GDOES, X-ray Nano and Micro-Tomography, and utilising synchrotron and neutron diffraction facilities) assisted me greatly in achieving a comparative characterisation of microstructures and assess the quantitative utility of different techniques.
Current Research Activities
- The influence of local texture, global/macro/meso/micro-texture and orientation clusters and strain/stress incompatibilities in a polycrystalline material on deformation mechanism and fracture mechanics in the alloys used in aggressive environments.
- The effects of processing parameters (during investment casting, forging, rolling, HIPing, welding and additive manufacturing), heat treatments and aging on mechanical properties of high temperature alloys.
- Structure-property relationship in superalloys, ferrous and HCP alloys using various mechanical and microstructural characterisations techniques.
- In-situ mechanical testing and heat treatment, utilising HR-EBSD, Digital Image Correlation, Synchrotron and Neutron Diffraction techniques to investigate deformation mechanism, recrystallisation and phase transformation of metals at high temperature conditions.
- Mechanical property optimisation (including; creep, fatigue, dwell fatigue) of the critical alloys used in aerospace, nuclear, energy, automotive and power generation sectors.
- Ductility issue in advanced structural alloys including HCP, FCC and BCC alloys.
- Exploring the potential of data mining and visualisation in alloy’s structure-property relationship.
- Crack initiation and propagation in HCP and FCC alloys under various loading conditions. I believe this aspect is a cornerstone for enhancement of creep, fatigue and dwell fatigue properties in advanced alloys.
- High temperature oxidation of alloys and its influence on materials performance.
- Magnetic property optimisation in electrical steel for future electric car and transformer applications.
Research outputs
2025
New insights on the deformation mechanism of fretting fatigue in Ti-6Al-4V
Birosca, S.
28 Mar 2025, In: Acta Materialia
Research output: Article
2024
The corrosion mechanism of grey cast-iron yacht keel in marine environment during long-term exposure
Shishavan, B. H., Dandekar, T. R., Knox-Johnston, R., Dunlop, J., Darling, J., Birosca, S.
28 Aug 2024, In: International Journal of Cast Metals Research, 6p.
Research output: Article
Balancing magnetic and mechanical properties of non-oriented electrical steel: correlation between microstructure and properties
Cheng, Z., Liu, J., Yu, C., Zhong, B., Chen, S., Fu, B., Birosca, S.
14 Aug 2024, In: Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters)
Research output: Article
Probing the temperature field and residual stress transformation in multi-track, multi-layered system
Birosca, S., Dandekar, T. R.
10 Jan 2024, In: Materials Today Communications
Research output: Article
2023
A study of high cycle fatigue life and its correlation with microstructural parameters in IN713C nickel-based superalloy
Birosca, S.
15 May 2023, In: Materials Science and Engineering A
Research output: Article
2022
Microstructure evolution and phase transformation in a nickel-based superalloy with varying Ti/Al ratios: Part 2 – Phase transformation
Liu, G., Kong, L., Xiao, X., Birosca, S.
13 Jan 2022, In: Materials Science and Engineering: A. 831, 12p., 142229
Research output: Article
2021
Microstructure and phases structure in nickel-based superalloy IN713C after solidification
Liu, G., Kong, L., Ruan, S., Birosca, S.
1 Dec 2021, In: Materials Characterization. 182, 15p., 111566
Research output: Article
Microstructure evolution and phase transformation in a nickel-based superalloy with varying Ti/Al ratios: Part 1 - Microstructure evolution
Liu, G., Kon, L., Xiao, X., Birosca, S.
23 Oct 2021, In: Materials Science and Engineering: A, 11p., 142228
Research output: Article
Disparity in recrystallization of α- & γ-fibers and its impact on cube texture formation in non-oriented electrical steel
Hawezy, D., Birosca, S.
1 Sep 2021, In: Acta Materialia. 216, 17p., 117141
Research output: Article
Crystallographic orientation influence on slip system activation and deformation mechanisms in Waspaloy during in-situ mechanical loading
Parkin, J., Birosca, S.
5 Jun 2021, In: Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 865, 11p., 158548
Research output: Article