Michael Benoit

Assistant Professor

Manufacturing, School of Engineering

Office: EME3271
Phone: 250 807-8923
Email: michael.benoit@uwaterloo.ca

Research Summary

Dr. Benoit’s research is in the area of materials processing and focuses on additive manufacturing (3D printing) of high strength aluminum (Al) alloys and brazing of Al alloys.

Courses & Teaching

Manufacturing Processes II - Advanced Manufacturing

Biography

Michael Benoit is an assistant professor of manufacturing engineering in the School of Engineering at The University of British Columbia (Okanagan campus). His research interests relate to material processing and industrial metallurgy.

Dr. Benoit received his PhD and BASc degrees from the University of Waterloo.  As a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow, he investigated the development of crack-free Al alloys for additive manufacturing at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

His industrial experiences include performing field trials at Dana Canada Corporation’s R&D facilities during his PhD, as well as internships at Titan Medical Inc., Ontario Power Generation, Ambri Inc., and Thapar University in India.

Degrees

PhD – (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo, Canada
BASc – (Mechanical Engineering) University of Waterloo, Canada

Research Interests & Projects

Dr. Benoit’s research is at the cutting-edge of industrial metallurgy and materials processing, with a focus on alloy development for additive manufacturing and elucidating processing-structure-properties relationships.

Materials processing (processing, structure, properties relationships)

Welding and joining

Additive manufacturing

Alloy development (solidification cracking)

Selected Publications & Presentations

Selected Publications (Full list: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&user=xKoMT8wAAAAJ)

M.J. Benoit, S. Zhu, T. B. Abbott, M. A. Easton. “Evaluation of the effect of rare earth alloying additions on the hot tearing susceptibility of aluminium alloy 7150 during rapid solidification”. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, vol. 51A, pp, 5213-5227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-020-05930-x

D. Zhang, A. Prasad, M. J. Bermingham, C. J. Todaro, M. J. Benoit, M. Patel, D. Qiu, D. H. StJohn, M. Qian, M. A. Easton. “Grain refinement of alloys in additive manufacturing processes”. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, vol. 51A, pp. 4341-4359, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-020-05880-4

M. Mazur, M. Benoit, M. Easton, M. Brandt. “Selective laser melting of Inconel 625 alloy with reduced defect formation”. Journal of Laser Applications, vol. 32, no. 2, article no. 022058, 2020. https://doi.org/10.2351/7.0000093

M. J. Benoit, H. Jin, B. Shalchi-Amirkhiz, S. Kurukuri, S. Winkler, M. J. Worswick, M. A. Wells. “Microstructure evolution in warm deformed Al brazing sheet”. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, vol. 281, article no. 116639, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2020.116639

M. J. Benoit, K. B. Han, S. Winkler, M. J. Worswick, M. A. Wells. “Brazing assessment of warm formed automotive heat exchangers”. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, vol. 103, no. 5-8, pp. 1935-1946, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-019-03693-3

M. J. Benoit, R. Kaur, M. A. Wells, H. Jin, B. Shalchi-Amirkhiz, S. Winkler. “Sagging resistance of warm formed aluminum brazing sheet”. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, vol. 254, no. 4, pp. 353-360, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2017.11.041

M. J. Benoit, M. A. Wells, H. Jin, M. A. Whitney, S. Winkler. “Liquid film migration in warm formed aluminum brazing sheet”. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, vol. 48A, no. 10, pp. 4645-4654, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-017-4268-6

 

Selected Presentations

M. J. Benoit, K. B. Han, M. J. Worswick, M. A. Wells, S. Winkler. “Brazing characteristics of warm formed automotive heat exchanger components”. 16th International Conference on Aluminum Alloys (ICAA16), Montreal, Canada, June 17-21, 2018. Early Career Researcher Plenary Presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yRjrULAlT8

M. J. Benoit. “Brazing performance of warm formed automotive heat exchanger components”. 1st International Symposium on Advanced Structural Materials, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China, November 14, 2017. Invited.

M. J. Benoit, M. A. Whitney, M. A. Wells, H. Jin, S. Winkler. “Effect of warm forming on brazeability of clad aluminum brazing sheet”. 15th International Conference on Aluminum Alloys, Chongqing, China, June 12-16, 2016. Best Poster Award.

Selected Grants & Awards

CIHR/NSERC Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship

NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship – Doctoral

NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship-Masters

Paul Niessen-Cominco Award (University of Waterloo)