Skip to main content

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

Menu Search


Trinity College Dublin By using this website you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with the Trinity cookie policy. For more information on cookies see our cookie policy.

      
Profile Photo

Professor Andrew Torrance

Fellow Emeritus (Mechanical, Manuf & Biomedical Eng)

 atorrnce@tcd.ie

 


Biography

Prof. Andrew Torrance graduated from Cambridge in 1968, then went to the lubrication group at Imperial College, London where he obtained a Ph.D. in 1971. After a year as a Research Assistant he moved to the laboratories of Total in Harfleur, France where he spent 2" years as Chef de Section frottement - usure. Returning to England, he spent 5 years as a Research Fellow in the Abrasive Machining Group at the University of Bristol before joining the teaching staff at Trinity College, Dublin in 1980, where he is now an Associate Professor and Fellow of the College. His main research interests are in abrasive machining, and the modelling of boundary friction and wear, and he is the author of some 70 papers on these subjects.

Research Tags

  ABRASION   Abrasive machining   ABRASIVE WEAR   ADDITIVE   ASPERITY DEFORMATION MODELS   ATTRITIOUS WEAR   BALL BEARING   BORE POLISHING   BOUNDARY FICTION   BOUNDARY LUBRICATION   COEFFICIENTS   CONTACT   DEBRIS   DEFORMATION   ELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC CONTACTS   FATIGUE   FITTING   FORM GRINDING   FRICTION   Friction and wear of engine components   FRICTION PREDICTION   GRINDING TEMPERATURE   LIFE   LUBRICANT CHEMISTRY   MECHANISM   Metal cutting   MICROSTRUCTURE   Modelling of boundary fristion and wear   PARAMETERS   PERFORMANCE   PREDICTION   PROFILOMETRY   RESISTANCE   ROLLING-CONTACT FATIGUE   ROUGH SURFACES   STEEL   THICK ANTIWEAR FILMS   TRANSFORMATION   WEAR

Research Projects

 Mist-jet cooling of grinding
 Measurement of abrasives and abrasive tools
 Enhanced gas-jet cooling of machining processes
 Enhanced gas-jet cooling of disk brakes
 Fuel and lubricant interactions with non-ferrous metals

Page 1 of 2

Languages

Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
French Fluent Fluent Fluent

Memberships

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

Details Date From Date To
M.I.M.M.M. C.Eng 1973 to date
A. Lefebvre, F. Lanzetta, P. Lipinski, A.A. Torrance, Measurement of grinding temperatures using a foil/workpiece thermocouple, International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture, 2012, Journal Article, IN_PRESS  TARA - Full Text
De Pellegrin, D.V. , Torrance, A.A. , Haran, E., Wear mechanisms and scale effects in two-body abrasion , Wear, 266, (1-2), 2009, p13-20 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI  URL
Bareggi, A., O'Donnell,G.E., Torrance, A., Modelling and experimental analysis of high speed air jets used during metal cutting as a cooling technique, 3rd CIRP International Conference on High Performance Cutting - Micromachining, Dublin, Ireland, June 12,13th, edited by G. Byrne and G.E. O'Donnell , Vol. 1, 2008, pp337 - 346, Notes: [ISBN 978-1-905254-32-3], Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
O'Kelly B.C., Torrance A.A., West R.P., Burke M.J. and Boland F.M., Case study of an interdisciplinary problem-based engineering design course, Proceedings of the Sixth AECEF International Symposium on Civil Engineering Education in Changing Europe, Vilnius, Lithuania, 28-30 May 2008, 2008, pp37 - 48 , Conference Paper, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  URL
Lyons, O.F.P., Murray, D.B. and Torrance, A.A., , Air jet cooling of brake discs, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 222, (6), 2008, p995-1004 , Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI  URL
M. Roe, and A.A.Torrance , The Surface Failure and Wear of Graphite Seals, Tribology International, 41, 2008, p1002 - 1008, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
M. Roe & A.A. Torrance, Performance prediction of exfoliated graphite seals: 1. Determination of parameters and verification of model, Sealing Technol, 4, (April), 2008, p6 - 13, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Bareggi, A., O'Donnell, G.E., Torrance, A., Modelling Thermal Effects in Machining using Finite Element Methods, 24th International Manufacturing Conference, Waterford, Ireland, 29th-31st August, edited by Phelan, J. , 2007, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Bareggi, A., Torrance, A., O'Donnell, G.E., Green cutting using supersonic air jets as coolant and lubricant during turning, The 4th International Conference on Manufacturing Research, Liverpool, UK, 5th-7th September, 2006, pp261 - 266, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
T.S. O'Donovan, D.B. Murray and A.A. Torrance, Jet heat transfer in the vicinity of a rotating grinding wheel, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part C, 220, 2006, p1 - 11, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
  

Page 1 of 8
D. V. De Pellegrin, N. D. Corbin, G. Baldoni, A. A. Torrance,, The Measurement and Description of Diamond Particle Shape in Abrasion., Diamond at Work Conference II, Rome, April 2007, edited by M. Jennings , 2007, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
D. V. De Pellegrin and A. A. Torrance, Characterisation of abrasive particles and surfaces in grinding, Diamond at Work Conference I, Barcelona, April 2006, edited by M. Jennings , 2006, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
D.V. De Pellegrin and A.A. Torrance, The contribution of debris formation to the particle size effect in abrasive wear, Austrib, Brisbane, December 2006, 2006, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
A. Zschocke, Y.Blake, A.A.Torrance, Wedge wear tests of low carbon steel and malleable iron, Proc. 30th Leeds Lyon Symposium, edited by L.Flamand, G.Dalmaz and R.M. Priest , Elsevier, 2004, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Darko M. Babic, Darina B. Murray and Andrew Torrance, Control of Grinding Temperature by High Speed Air Jets, Int. Conf. on Heat Transfer, Bled, 2004, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
A.A.Torrance, Wear of grinding wheels - software for their selection, Servicing Manufacture Proc. 21st Int. Man. Conf, Limerick, 1st September 2004, edited by P.Phelan , 2004, pp305-311 , Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
O'Donovan, T.S., Murray, D.B. and Torrance, A.A., Unsteady Heat Transfer in an Impinging Jet Flow, Proceedings of the 8th UK National Heat Transfer Conference, Oxford, 2003, Notes: [paper PC10.], Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
M. Busquet and A.A.Torrance, Some models of asperity contacts, Proc. 27th Leeds Lyon Symposium, edited by L.Flamand, G.Dalmaz and C.M.Taylor , Elsevier, 2001, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
M. Busquet and A.A.Torrance, Wear: influence of detached particles trapped in the contact when a hard cylinder slides over a smooth soft surface, Proc. 26th Leeds Lyon Symposium, edited by L.Flamand, G.Dalmaz and C.M.Taylor , Elsevier, 2000, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
M. Busquet and A.A.Torrance, Investigation of surface deformation and friction when a cylindrical asperity slides over a smooth soft surface, Proc. 25th Leeds Lyon Symposium, edited by L.Flamand, G.Dalmaz and C.M.Taylor , Elsevier, 1999, pp101 - 110, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED

  

Page 1 of 3

Awards and Honours

Award Date
Visiting Professor, INSA de Lyon 2002
Fellow TCD 1992

Research Interests

Description Of Research Interests

1. MIST-JET COOLING OF GRINDING: This project, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, is to prove the concept of mist jet cooling for abrasive machining. A prototype cooler has been built, and is available for demonstration on site.It can be extremely effective with very small quantities of environmentally friendly liquids. 2. MEASUREMENT OF ABRASIVES AND ABRASIVE TOOLS: This project, sponsored by the Irish Council for Science, Engineering and Technology, seeks to develop a method for accurately quantifying the sharpness of individual abrasives, and of abrasive tools using stereo microscopy. 3. ENHANCED GAS-JET COOLING OF MACHINING PROCESSES: This project, sponsored by Science Foundation Ireland, seeks to apply the techniques developed in the project on grinding to other machining processes. Early results indicate that excellent results are possible with environmentally friendly fluids and good nozzle design. 4. ENHANCED GAS-JET COOLING OF DISK BRAKES: This project, sponsored by Science Foundation Ireland, seeks to apply the techniques developed in the projects on grinding and machining to the cooling of disk brakes. Preliminary work is ongoing on the design of a suitable process. 5. FUEL AND LUBRICANT INTERACTIONS WITH NON-FERROUS METALS: This project, sponsored by the E.U.and Shell Global Solutions seeks to investigate the effects of fuel and lubricant additives on the froistion and wear of contacts involvoing non-ferrous metals. The outcome of the project will be a fuller understanding of the formation of surface films on surfaces other than steel, and how the surface film contributes to the friction and wear performance of the lubricant in such systems. 6. A NEW TEST FOR FRICTION IN FORGING: This is an unsponsored research project to develop a new, test more realistic than the conventional ring test to measure friction in forging.