
Dr Nicolas Larrosa
BSc, MSc, PhD
Expertise
Current positions
Senior Lecturer
School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
I have completed a Mechanical Engineering degree (Argentina, 2005) and a MSc and PhD in microstructural fracture mechanics (Seville, 2012) under the supervision of Prof Alfredo Navarro, a leading academic in the field. My PhD work focused on modelling the effect of the material microstructure and the size and shape of the component on small fatigue crack propagation. After completing my PhD, I was appointed as a Senior Research Associate (RA) in Structural Integrity at The University of Manchester (UoM), where I was supervised by one of the UK’s foremost experts in Structural Integrity, Prof Bob Ainsworth. In this period (June 2013- Sep 2016), I worked and contributed to a number academic projects, funded by the BP (Oil and Gas) and EDF energy (Nuclear), in characterising fracture, fatigue, plastic collapse and corrosion-fatigue (CF) behaviour of high integrity components.
In October 2016 I was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship by the University of Malaga (Spain) to investigate the use of ultrasonic inspection data in structural integrity assessments, a research work performed in collaboration with University of Manchester.
In March 2017 I was appointed Lecturer in Structural Integrity at the University of Bristol where I am the Unit Director of the Nuclear Reactor Engineering Course for the MSc in Nuclear Science and Engineering.
My background is in Structural Engineering, Computational Mechanics and Fracture Mechanics with rich experience in developing and integrating novel modelling capabilities with mechanistic-based damage models for structural integrity and life assessments
My goal is to identify and isolate the hidden but fundamental causes of damage mechanisms and to do research by engaging with the structural integrity community effectively, as demonstrated in the number of publications I have co-authored with researchers from other departments and Universities.
External Activities:
• “Mind the GAP” in FFS assessment procedures- Organization Committee and facilitator. (Jun. 2014-Present). Manchester (UK).
• The Structural Integrity Course (www.sicourse.com)- Organization Committee and facilitator (Jan. 2016-Present).
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Predictive damage analytics of additive manufactured materials
Principal Investigator
Description
Additive Manufacturing (AM) has a large potential in adapting simultaneously functionality, processing, and materials, but it currently lacks repeatability and reliability of parts. Several initiatives were recently launched to benchmark…Managing organisational unit
Department of Mechanical EngineeringDates
19/11/2019 to 18/11/2023
The effect of corrosion, biofouling and welding processes on Nickel-Aluminium Bronze components exposed to the marine environment
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
Nickel-Aluminium Bronze (NAB) is widely used in seawater-contacting marine components such as external fixings, propellers and valves due to its good corrosion resistance and biofouling resistance. However, the development of…Managing organisational unit
Department of Mechanical EngineeringDates
23/09/2019 to 08/03/2024
Thesis supervisions
Development of an engineering assessment procedure for predicting notch fracture toughness using a constraint-based approach.
Supervisors
Corrosion Mechanisms and Fatigue Behaviour of Marine Biofouled Plasma Welded Nickel Aluminium Bronze
Supervisors
Hydrogen environmentally assisted cracking of aerospace aluminium
Supervisors
Effects of cold work and Zn water chemistry upon the corrosion behaviour of Alloy 690 under simulated pressurised water reactor primary water conditions
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
01/02/2025SEA
Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 37
A numerical study on fatigue strength degradation due to pitting corrosion of S355 structural steel in a marine environment
Engineering Failure Analysis
Corrosion behaviour of 316L stainless steel under stress in artificial seawater droplet exposure at elevated temperature and humidity
Corrosion Science
Integrative assessment of hydrogen-natural gas mixtures in energy grids: An overview of the H2SAREA project experience
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Standards and codes for hydrogen in pipeline infrastructure: testing, qualification, and integrity assessment
Journal of Pipeline Science and Engineering