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Harmony Hewlett

Teams and roles for Harmony Hewlett

Overview

I am a first-year PhD student within the Tribology research group. 

My research focuses on the simulation of acoustic emissions in gears (more detail can be found in the 'Research' section).

I also work as a graduate demonstrator, helping undergraduate students in tutorials, and have won several awards for my academic achievement, including an IMechE scholarship.

Supervisors:  Dr Alastair Clarke and Dr Simon Hutt 

Funding: The Jost Foundation's '2023 Jost Studentship'

Research

Thesis: Simulation of Acoustic Emission from Heavily Loaded Mixed-Elastohydrodynamic Contacts

In industry, gears often operate such that the scale of their surface roughnesses are similar to the thickness of the lubricant used between them. This means that peaks in surface roughness (referred to as 'asperities') on the gears; opposing surfaces intermittently contact each other during operation, leading to wear.

This operating condition is referred to as the 'mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication' regime, and is common in aerospace and renewable energy applications (e.g. wind turbine gearboxes).

Each time asperities meet, this generates elastic stress waves through the gear material. This phenomenon is known as 'Acoustic Emission' and can be measured with sensors.

During the course of my PhD, I aim to simulate the Acoustic Emission signals that will occur during operation of gears with any given surface roughness profile, and to validate this by comparing simulated results with real experimental data.

Supervisors:  Dr Alastair Clarke and Dr Simon Hutt 

Funding: The Jost Foundation's '2023 Jost Studentship'

Teaching

Graduate Demonstrator - providing help to students in Solidworks and gearbox design tutorials.

Biography

Honours and awards

  • Evan Llewellyn Davies Prize in Mechanical Engineering - 2024
    • Highest average mark in Mechanical Engineering degree examinations at Cardiff University.
  • Dr Michael Riese Best Heat Transfer Project Prize - 2024
    • Best 3rd-year Mechanical/Integrated Engineering project in the area of heat transfer at Cardiff University.
  • IMechE First Year Undergraduate Scholarship - 2022
    • IMechE scholarship to study Engineering at Cardiff University.

Research themes

Specialisms

  • Tribology
  • Mechanical engineering

External profiles