Articles by Dr. David Kirk

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Total articles (109)

Page 1 of 8

  • Hardness Testing
  • Year: 2024, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 38, Issue 1, Winter 2024
  • INTRODUCTION Fortuitously, for shot peeners, their hardness testers don’t measure hardness! Classically, hardness is defined as the resistance of a material to abrasion. Tests such as that of the...

  • Shot Peeners’ Magic Steel MANGALLOY
  • Year: 2023, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 37, Issue 4, Fall 2023
  • INTRODUCTION Mangalloy works magically! As shot particles it is austenitic and tough but develops a very hard martensitic skin if cold-worked by peening. When the surface wears away, very very slo...

  • Shot Peening Statistics
  • Year: 2023, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 37, Issue 3, Summer 2023
  • INTRODUCTION The purpose of this article is to assist readers in understanding the increasing number of applications of statistics in shot peening. Mathematics here is kept as simple as possible. ...

  • Shot Peening Materials Science
  • Year: 2023, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 37, Issue 2, Spring 2023
  • INTRODUCTION The most important question in the Universe is probably “Why?” For shot peening it applies to the several materials that are at the heart of the process. For example, “Why is st...

  • Shot Peening Mathematics
  • Year: 2023, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 37, Issue 1, Winter 2023
  • SHOT PEENING is, necessarily, quantitative. It therefore relies on the application of a large number of mathematical principles. These principles vary from simple arithmetic procedures to the use o...

  • Back to Basics: Energy Controls Shot Peening Efficiency
  • Year: 2022, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 36, Issue 4, Fall 2022
  • INTRODUCTION Energy is arguably the most important factor in shot peening. Without energy there would be no shot peening. It follows that energy has to be controlled in order to maximize shot peen...

  • Back to Basics: Accuracy of Shot Peening Measurements
  • Year: 2022, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 36, Issue 3, Summer 2022
  • INTRODUCTION Accuracy of shot peening measurements is a very basic requirement. Three factors comprise a reasoned approach to accuracy. These are: 1. Assumption 2. Precision 3. Bias Consider, a...

  • Back to Basics - Advances in Shot Peening
  • Year: 2022, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 36, Issue 2, Spring 2022
  • INTRODUCTION Shot peening has advanced steadily since its first introduction. This article concentrates on the advances made in the last forty years. Those advances have allowed shot peening to be...

  • Back to Basics - Shot Peening in a Nutshell
  • Year: 2022, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 36, Issue 1, Winter 2022
  • INTRODUCTION This article aims to cover just the basic features of shot peening. Other articles can be referred to for extended accounts. Shot peening is, essentially, a surface workhardening proce...

  • Back to Basics Shot Peening Calculations
  • Year: 2021, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 35, Issue 4, Fall 2021
  • INTRODUCTION The ability to quantify its variables has allowed shot peening to evolve into a smart technological process. Calculations are now an unavoidable part of shot peening. Every calculation...

  • Back to Basics: Coverage
  • Year: 2021, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 35, Issue 3, Summer 2021
  • INTRODUCTION Coverage and peening intensity are the two major properties for peened components that have to be both measured and controlled. As with all definitions “The Devil is in the De...

  • Back to Basics: Peening Intensity
  • Year: 2021, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 35, Issue 2, Spring 2021
  • INTRODUCTION Peening Intensity and Coverage are our two main shotpeening parameters. As such, they cover separate aspects of shot peening. Coverage will be the subject of the next article in t...

  • Back to Basics: The “Magic Skin”
  • Year: 2021, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 35, Issue 1, Winter 2021
  • INTRODUCTION The whole point of shot peening is to improve the service life of industrial components. Peening achieves this aim by inducing a “magic skin” into the components. This skin...

  • Back to Basics: Dent Formation and Coverage
  • Year: 2020, Source: The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 34, Issue 4, Fall 2020
  • INTRODUCTION The aim of this mini-series is to cover the basic scientific principles of shot peening. Fundamental principles are presented together with relevant theoretical explanations. You ...


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David Kirk

Born into a multi-generational steelworking family — his grandfather was a Head Roller and his father was an Open-Hearth steelmaker and also a part-time lecturer at Rotherham Technical College — David won a scholarship to a local grammar school. Grammar school success secured three scholarships that took him to Birmingham University to read Industrial Metallurgy. He was the first member of his family to attend university. After graduation, a Department of Science scholarship allowed research that finished with a doctorate for a thesis entitled "The Hot Working of Metals."

First employment as a Research Fellow at Birmingham University was followed by a short period as a Senior Research Metallurgist at the International Nickel Company's Research Laboratory in Birmingham. David then joined Coventry University as a Senior Lecturer in Metallurgy. At Coventry University, he was promoted to Principal Lecturer in Metallurgy and then Chairman of the School of Materials. Initial research activity centered on X-ray residual stress measurement which prompted him to establish Coventry Science Consultants Ltd. This was followed by his installation of a shot-peening research laboratory at the University with active encouragement and advice by the late Jack Plaster.

Upon retirement, David was first appointed as a Visiting Research Fellow and is now Visiting Professor of Materials at Coventry University. David has, after retirement, published some 70 research papers and articles on shot peening and residual stresses. Following his organization of the International Conference on Shot Peening in Oxford, he was elected Chairman of the International Scientific Committee for Shot Peening and he was subsequently elected to be a Life member. David was awarded The Shot Peener of the Year award in 2001 for his significant contributions to the advancement of shot peening.

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