From September 2011 to November 2020, he was a researcher in Metallurgy (SSD ING/IND21) at the Department of Engineering of the University of Ferrara. In April 2017, he obtained the National Scientific Qualification for the Second Band (pursuant to Article 16 of Law No. 240 of December 30, 2010) in the competitive sector 09/A3. Since December 2020, he has been an Associate Professor of Metallurgy (SSD ING-IND/21) at the Department of Engineering of the University of Ferrara. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the "Aldo Daccò" Center for Studies on Corrosion and Metallurgy of the University of Ferrara.
Teaching Activities
Mattia Merlin has taught and continues to teach courses in SSD ING-IND/21 at the Department of Engineering of the University of Ferrara. Since the academic year 2010/2011, he has been the holder of the "Metallurgy II" course for the Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has supervised and co-supervised numerous Bachelor's and Master's theses in Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the University of Ferrara.
Research Activities
Mattia Merlin's main research focus, initiated during his PhD, concerns the microstructural and mechanical characterization of cast aluminum alloys. The primary goal is to study the correlations between liquid alloy treatment and subsequent casting and heat treatment processes in order to improve the microstructural and mechanical characteristics of castings. The most important investigation techniques applied in the experimentation are: thermal analysis, optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDS), tensile tests, instrumented Charpy tests, and image analysis techniques.
In recent years, research activities in the field of aluminum alloys have also involved additive manufacturing, with particular reference to the effect of build directions, contour strategies, process parameters, and heat treatments on the microstructural and mechanical properties of AlSi10Mg alloy produced by the SLM/DMLS process.
Another research area concerns the use of shape memory NiTi alloys for the development and realization of deformable active structures. Attention is specifically focused on the optimization of shape memory heat treatments and on the evaluation of the functional responses of the treated alloy subjected to different thermo-mechanical activation cycles. The results of the experimentation are compared with constitutive models of the material, developed in collaboration with other research groups.
In the past, Mattia Merlin has also carried out research in the field of high-strength microalloyed steels, contributing, within the framework of a PRIN 2005 project, to the research activities of the local unit of the University of Ferrara.
With regard to international research collaborations, in 2013 he signed a five-year international collaboration agreement with COMIMSA – Corporacion Mexicana de Investigacion en Materiales (Mexico), recently extended until the end of 2024.
In recent years, two new research collaborations have been started with the University of Jonkoping (Sweden), focused respectively on the microstructural and mechanical properties of cast AlSiMgCu alloys and on the wear behavior of NiP coatings applied to steel.
Mattia Merlin is currently Guest Editor of the Special Issue entitled "Mechanical Properties and Structural Analysis of Coatings and Engineered Surfaces" of the international journal Coatings (MDPI). He is also the author and co-author of scientific publications in national and international journals and of papers at national and international conferences. He is co-inventor in two patents.
Awards
Mattia Merlin's PhD thesis in Engineering Sciences was awarded by IUSS Ferrara 1391 as the best thesis of the 21st cycle carried out at the University of Ferrara. In 2009, he received the "Aldo Daccò" Award, conferred by AIM (Italian Association of Metallurgy).
