Overview
I am a postgraduate student in the field of Tribology, conducting research into rolling contact fatigue in gears. I began my postgraduate studies in 2017 after graduating from Cardiff University with a Batchelors degree in Mechanical Engineering.
During my third year as an undergraduate I worked at BMT Defence Services in Bath, spending time in their Surface Ships, Submarines, and Business Development departments as well as working as a contractor to Babcock in the Submarine Support Management Group. This gave me an additional interest in maritime engineering.
Research
Research interests
- Gear Fatigue
- Micropitting
Thesis
Micropitting in Gear Contacts
Conducting an experimental programme to investigate the influence of various operating conditions on micropitting, a form of fatigue failure which causes tiny pits to appear in the gear surface. This is a common cause of failure in a number of gear applications, one of the most notable examples being wind turbine drivetrains.
Funding source
EPSRC
Publications
2023
- Clarke, A., Britton, W., Hutt, S. and Evans, H. 2023. An experimental investigation of surface behaviour of ground steel gear surfaces in mixed lubrication conditions. Presented at: Leeds Lyon Symposium on Tribology: Tribology for a sustainable future, Leeds, UK, 7-10 September 2023.
2021
- Britton, W. 2021. The running-in and incipient micropitting of ground gear surfaces under mixed lubrication condition. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
- Britton, W. M., Clarke, A. and Evans, H. 2021. A novel method for automatic detection of incipient micropitting in ground surfaces. Tribology International 159, article number: 106959. (10.1016/j.triboint.2021.106959)