SENIOR LECTURER IN MATERIALS ENGINEERING
Fracture mechanics; Damage Mechanics; Characterisation of material properties; Digital image and volume correlation; Selective laser melting.
Contact details Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Building, Joubert Street, Stellenbosch.
Tel 021-8084045 email tbecker@sun.ac.za
CURRENT APPOINTMENTS
2012 - current Stellenbosch University – Dep. of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering
Senior Lecturer
Line manager Danie Els, tel 021-8084376, email dnjels@sun.ac.za
2012 - current University of Cape Town – Department of Mechanical Engineering Visiting Lecturer
Line manager Robert Knutsen, tel 021-6503172, email rob.knutsen@uct.ac.za
QUALIFICATIONS
2011 PhD Mechanical Engineering
University of Manchester / University of Cape Town (split site study)
2005 BSc (1st class honors) Mechanical Engineering
University of Cape Town
Publications, Presentations and Patents
2016
Journal Articles
BECKER TH, BLAINE DC, TER HAAR GM. Influence of heat treatments on the microstructure and tensile behaviour of selective laser melting-produced TI-6AL-4V parts. South African Journal of Industrial Engineering 2016; 27(3):174-183.
BECKER TH, DIMITROV DM. The achievable mechanical properties of SLM produced maraging steel 300 components. RAPID PROTOTYPING JOURNAL 2016; 22(3):487-494.
DIMITROV DM, BECKER TH. On the impact of different system strategies on the material performance of selective laser melting - manufactured T16AL4V components. South African Journal of Industrial Engineering 2016; 27(3):184-191.
Proceedings International
BECKER TH. Obtaining the J-integral by diffraction-based crack-field strain mapping.
2015
Journal Articles
BECKER TH, BECK M, SCHEFFER C. Microstructure and mechanical properties of direct metal laser sintered TI-6AL-4V† . South African Journal of Industrial Engineering 2015; 26(1):1-10.
BECKER TH, VAN ROOYEN M, DIMITROV DM. Heat Treatment of TI-6AL-4V produced by LaserCUSING. South African Journal of Industrial Engineering 2015; 26(2):93-103.
HINDLEY MP, BLAINE DC, GROENWOLD A, BECKER TH. Failure prediction of full-size reactor components from tensile specimen data on NBG-18 nuclear graphite. Nuclear Engineering and Design 2015; 284:1-9.
MOLTENO MR, BECKER TH. Mode I-III decomposition of the J-integral from DIC displacement data. Strain 2015; 51:492-503.
Proceedings International
DHANSAY NM, BECKER TH. A Comparative Review of the Mechanical properties of SLM Produced Ti-6Al-4V. 16 th International Conference RAPDASA 2015, South Africa, RAPDASA 2015: 1-14
2014
Journal Articles
HINDLEY MP, GROENWOLD AA, BLAINE DC, BECKER TH. Optimisation of the link volume for weakest link failure prediction in NBG-18 nuclear graphite. Nuclear Engineering and Design 2014; 274 : 10-19.
Proceedings International
CONRADIE JH, TURNER DZ, BECKER TH. Characterising Damage in Structural Materials using Digital Image Correlation and Peridynamics. 9th South African Conference on Computational and Applied Mechanics 2014 (SACAM2014), Somerset West, South Africa, 2014: 1-8.
DHANSAY NM, TAIT RB, BECKER TH. Fatigue and Fracture Toughness of Ti-6Al-4V Titanium Alloy Manufactured by Selective Laser Melting. AMI Light Metals Conference, Pilanesberg National Park, Pilansberg, South Africa, Trans Tech Publication 2014: 248-253.
DIMITROV D, BECKER TH, BEZUIDENHOUT M, HUGO PA. From Rapid Prototyping to Rapid Manufacturing - An Industrial and Academic Perspective. 1st International Conference on Progress in Additive Manufacturing (Pro-AM 2014), Singapore, 2014: 10.
2013
Journal Articles (subsidised)
HINDLEY MP, MITCHELL MN, ERASMUS C, MCMURTY R, BECKER TH, BLAINE DC, GROENWOLD AA. A numerical stress based approach for predicting failure in NBG-18 nuclear graphite components with verification problems. Journal of Nuclear Materials 2013; 436 : 175-184.
PEER REVIEWED JOURNALS
Hindley MP, Mitchell MN, Erasmus C, McMurtry R, Becker TH, Blaine DC, Groenwold AA (2012). “A
numerical stress based approach for predicting failure in NBG-18 nuclear graphite components with
verification problems”, Journal of Nuclear Materials”, vol. 436, pp. 175–184.
Becker TH, Tait RB and Marrow TJ (2012). “An approach to calculate the J- integral by digital image
correlation”. Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures, vol. 35, pp. 971– 984.
Knowles C, Becker TH, Tait RB (2012). “Residual stress measurements and Structural Integrity
Implications for Selective Laser Melted Ti-6Al-4V”. South African Journal of Industrial
Engineering, vol. 23, pp. 119-129.
Becker TH, Marrow TJ and Tait RB (2011). “An Evaluation of the Double Torsion Technique”.
Experimental Mechanics, vol. 51, pp. 1-16.
Becker TH, Marrow TJ and Tait RB (2011). “Damage, crack growth and fracture characteristics of
nuclear grade graphite using the double torsion technique”. Journal of Nuclear Materials, vol.
414, pp. 32-43.
PEER REVIEWED CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
Motleno M, Becker TH (2014). “Implementation of the extreme learning machine for sub-pixel
interpolation for digital image correlation”. ICEM16, Cambridge, UK.
Gogo SP, Skatulla S, Becker TH (2013). “Optimisation of the double torsion geometry”.
Proceedings of the fifth international conference on structural engineering, mechanics and
computation, Cape Town, RSA.
Becker TH, Turner DZ (2013). “An investigation of the double torsion geometry using peridynamics”.
Proceedings of the fifth international conference on structural engineering, mechanics and
computation, Cape Town, RSA.
Becker TH, Rylands T (2013). “Seismic margin assessment of pressure boundary components fro
existing designs calculations”. Proceedings of the 22nd international conference on structural
mechanics in reactor technology, San Francisco, USA.
Becker TH, TJ Marrow (2013). “Modelling Damage in Nuclear Graphite”. International Conference on
Fracture 13, Beijing, China.
Knowles C, Becker TH, Tait RB (2012). “The effects of heat treatment on the residual stress levels
within Direct Metal Laser Sintered Ti-6Al-4V as measured using the hole-drilling strain gauge
method”. RAPDASA, Van der Bijl Park, RSA.
Becker TH, Mostafavi, M, Tait RB and Marrow TJ (2010). “Damage and crack growth and fracture
characteristics of nuclear grade graphite using the double torsion technique”. International Youth
Nuclear Congress, Cape Town, RSA.
Becker TH, Tait RB (2009). “Fracture and slow crack characteristics of nuclear grade graphite using
the double torsion beam technique”, International Conference on Fracture, Ottawa, Canada.
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