Humboldt Research Fellow from Japan Conducts Research at IUL
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For her Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship, Dr. Shiori Gondo from Japan is conducting research in the Non-Conventional Processes Department at the Institute of Forming Technology and Lightweight Components (IUL) led by Prof. A. Erman Tekkaya. The fellowship enables highly qualified international postdoctoral researchers to conduct research in Germany. In this interview, Dr. Gondo talks about her project, the importance of interdisciplinary research and her goals during her stay at TU Dortmund University.
Dr. Gondo, what are you currently researching?
In my research project, I am focusing on incremental sheet forming (ISF). ISF is a process for manufacturing metal components with complex shapes. In this process, a metal sheet is locally deformed by moving a hemispherical tool along a programmed path without using other specialized tools. Therefore, it has advantages in manufacturing for small batch production, rapid prototyping, and tailor-made components compared to traditional sheet metal forming processes such as deep drawing, which involves costs linked to equipment and tools as well as the set-up time. During my stay, I am researching how damage develops during ISF and how we may restrict it. Damage can lead to a failure of the produced metal component. Previous research had looked at damage sustained during basic deformation such as uniaxial tensile deformation and bending. With my project, I am looking at damage occurring in complex deformation.
Why is interdisciplinary research important in your field?
Whenever I am able to comprehend something I did not understand well before, and achieve something I have not attained before, I feel fulfilled! For this reason, I think it is highly interesting that the complex deformation of metal in ISF leads to many yet unknown phenomena. Most notably, interdisciplinary research lets us discover new problems in manufacturing and we can develop new technologies to solve these problems. In my project, I am therefore combining ISF with the research field of microstructure and especially damage, which IUL specializes in. By using a microstructure perspective to focus on ISF, I hope to contribute something new to the research field. Furthermore, I would like to contribute to the development of damage-controlled ISF technology that creates a complex-shaped component with high stiffness in one unit. I hope that this will increase the chance that the industry implements ISF more often.
Why did you choose IUL for your research stay?
I wanted to develop my career further with a research stay abroad. A colleague of mine in Japan introduced me to Prof. A. Erman Tekkaya. In the meetings with him and IUL researchers, I was impressed with IUL's current research and I am certain that working at IUL will help me improve my abilities further. In addition, I was very happy that the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation selected my project at IUL for a Fellowship. During my stay at TU Dortmund University, my goal is, of course, to accomplish my research project while gaining a lot of experience. Another goal of mine is to contribute to the research of IUL by offering my expertise in microstructure. Additionally, I hope to build a network and to continue collaborating with researchers from Dortmund in the future. Furthermore, I want to improve my language skills – my goal is to be able to give a talk about my research in German!
Vita
Dr. Shiori Gondo received her Ph.D. from Waseda University in 2019. Subsequently, she has worked as a researcher at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Institute (AMRI) of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Tsukuba, Japan.
