Illinois researchers receive DoE award

Illinois engineering professors Petros Sofronis and Ian Robertson have received the 2011 Delivery Team Award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program.

Sofronis is a professor of mechanical science and engineering, associate head for mechanics programs, and director of the new International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I²CNER). Robertson, a Donald B. Willett Professor of Engineering and former head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, is also heavily involved in I²CNER as a researcher. “This award recognizes Petros Sofronis and Ian Robertson for their valuable technical contributions toward the understanding of the effects of hydrogen on pipeline steels,” according to a Department of Energy release. “Their theory on the hydrogen-induced shielding of defect interactions is the first to explain the mechanism of hydrogen enhanced localized plasticity observed in hydrogen-induced fracture phenomena.”

“This work is instrumental in devising fracture criteria for safe and reliable large-scale transport of hydrogen through pipelines, which represents the lowest cost method of delivering hydrogen from the production site to the forecourt. Their research has involved extensive computational and experimental analysis, as well as the development of strong collaboration with industry, national laboratories, and international institutions.”

Award recipients are chosen by a peer revew panel, which determines the nominees who have shown the most outstanding achievements and significant contributions to the Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program.
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Contact: Petros Sofronis, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, 217/333-2636.

Ian Robertson, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 217/333-6776.

Writer: William Bowman, associate director of communications, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, 217/244-0901.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.