Dr. Talha J. Pirzada

Dr Talha Pirzada
Stipendiary Lecturer in Materials Science, Research Fellow at the Department of Materials
talha.pirzada@materials.ox.ac.uk

PROFILE: 

 

Dr Talha J. Pirzada’s research focuses on the development and industrialisation of oxide-based Ceramic Matrix Composites (Ox-CMCs) for aerospace and defence applications. His work spans the full technology readiness spectrum—from formulating novel ceramic systems at laboratory scale to manufacturing and testing demonstrator components under extreme environments. At Oxford, he leads research on prepreg tape production, lay-up optimisation, and microstructural characterisation using X-ray tomography, collaborating closely with the National Composites Centre (NCC) and the UK Ministry of Defence. His broader goal is to advance the UK’s capability to design, produce, and qualify next-generation high-temperature composite systems for critical aerospace platforms.

 

 

Dr Pirzada also teaches within the Department of Materials, where he lectures the second-year course “Elastic Properties of Materials (GP3)”, focusing on the behaviour of composites and polymers under mechanical loading. He has served as a Stipendiary Lecturer at Mansfield College since 2021, tutoring a range of undergraduate modules in Materials Science and participating in the college’s undergraduate admissions process, where he conducts interviews for incoming students. He has taught at Oxford, UCL, Stanford, Bath, and Imperial, and supervises BEng, MSc and PhD research projects that bridge academic discovery with industrial application.

 

 

Beyond his technical research, Dr Pirzada works at the interface of science, industry, and policy, focusing on the aerospace and defence sectors. Drawing on experience across academia and high-value manufacturing, he contributes to discussions on technology readiness, industrial strategy, and materials innovation, advocating for integrated frameworks that connect research, policy, and industrial delivery.

  

Teaching and Academic Roles: 

  • Lecturer, Department of Materials – teaches Elastic Properties of Materials (GP3), focusing on composite and polymer mechanics.
  • Stipendiary Lecturer, Mansfield College (since 2021) – tutors undergraduate Materials Science modules and participates in the college’s admissions interviews.
  • He has taught at Oxford, UCL, Stanford, Bath, and Imperial College London, and supervises BEng, MSc, and DPhil research in additive manufacturing and ceramic matrix composites, bridging academia with industrial applications.

Education: 

  • DPhil in Aerospace Materials, Linacre College, University of Oxford 
  • MSc in Mechanical Engineering, University College London
  • BEng in Aerospace Engineering, University of Bath

Professional Affiliations: 

  • Chartered Engineer (CEng)
  • Fellow, Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)
  • Junior Research Fellow, Lady Margaret Hall

Plastic inhomogeneity and crack initiation in hybrid wrought - additively manufactured Inconel 718 Plastic inhomogeneity and crack initiation in hybrid wrought - additively manufactured Inconel 718

Directed energy deposition (DED) holds great promise for repair applications involving site-specific deposition that creates hybrid components. However, it has been reported that failure in hybrid components occurs in the additively manufactured (AM) side despite its higher strength and excellent consolidation. To unravel the underlying mechanisms responsible for the observed behaviour, we carried out both ex-situ and in-situ mechanical testing complemented with detailed microstructural characterisation of the wrought, AM and bond interface regions in hybrid Inconel 718. The role of the local microstructure in the spatial strain development and crack initiation in the hybrid wrought-AM Inconel 718 is revealed. Most importantly, it is shown that severe inhomogeneous plastic deformation quickly developed in the AM side of the hybrid sample, and this is primarily attributed to few, but very large columnar grains that were preferentially oriented for dislocation slip under external loading. 

Journal: Materials Characterization

Publication Date: Mar 13, 2023

Authors: Jalal Al-Lami a, Phuc Hoang a, Catrin Davies b, Talha Pirzada c, Minh-Son Pham a

Link: Plastic inhomogeneity and crack initiation in hybrid wrought - additively manufactured Inconel 718 - ScienceDirect

Oxide Based Ceramic Matrix Composites For High Temperature Aerospace Sealing Applications

This thesis looks at the viability of using oxide based ceramic matrix composites for high temperature gas turbine sealing applications. Two material systems namely Nextel312/SiOC, Nextel 312 fibre with SiOC matrix, and Nextel720/Alumina, Nextel 720 fibre with alumina matrix, were studied in detail and modified in order to produce CMC variants that could perform adequately as seals materials.

 

University of Oxford.

Publication date: Jun 15, 2021

Link: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:586b9570-0600-42cc-9065-eeea8ec5c88d/

Full-field characterisation of oxide-oxide ceramic-matrix composites using X-ray computed micro-tomography and digital volume correlation under load at high temperatures

In situ synchrotron X-ray computed micro-tomography and digital volume correlation (DVC) were utilised to understand the failure mechanisms at room temperature and 1050 °C of two NextelTM720/alumina oxide-oxide ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs), termed materials A and B, sintered respectively at 1200 °C and ∼1250 °C. At both test temperatures, three-point-bending strengths were ∼55-58 MPa for material A and ∼94-100 MPa for material B. Damage was associated with three primary types of cracking modes: interfacial delamination, inclined cracks within fibre tows, opening of existing matrix shrinkage cracks.

Journal: Materials and Design

Publication Date: June 8, 2021

Authors: J. Paul Forna-Kreutzer a b, Jon Ell c, Harold Barnard d, Talha J. Pirzada e f, Robert O. Ritchie c, Dong Liu b

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127521004524?via%3Dihub

In situ observation of the deformation and fracture of an alumina-alumina ceramic-matrix composite at elevated temperature using x-ray computed tomography

The deformation and fracture of a 0/90° Nextel 720 mullite fibre / alumina matrix ceramic-matrix composite material has been observed by in situ synchrotron x-ray computed micro-tomography at ambient temperature and at 1100 °C. A three-point loading configuration was used and samples were loaded monotonically until final fracture. The flexural strength was found to be unaffected by temperature. 3D visualisation of the microstructure showed fracture occurred by propagation of internal cracks at stresses close to the flexural strength. Shear fractures propagated across fibre bundles that were oriented perpendicular to the flexural stress at both room temperature and 1100 °C. 

Journal: European Ceramic Society.

Publication Date: February 8, 2021

Authors: Talha J. Pirzada a, Dong Liu a b, Jon Ell c, Harold Barnard d, Ivo Šulák e, Marina Galano a, Thomas J. Marrow a, Robert O. Ritchie c f

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955221921000467?dgcid=coauthor

Effects of polymer infiltration processing (PIP) temperature on the mechanical and thermal properties of Nextel 312 Fibre SiOC ceramic matrix composites

Effects of the polymer infiltration processing (PIP) temperature between 850 and 1050°C on the mechanical and thermal properties of Nextel 312 fibre SiCO ceramic matrix composite were studied. The aim was to optimise the material system for its proposed application as a mechanical gas-seal at temperatures up to 900°C. The microstructure and its failure behaviour at room temperature were characterised using electron microscopy (SEM, TEM), X-ray diffraction and high resolution X-ray Tomography, with mechanical testing by nano-indentation, fibre-push out and flexural bending.

Journal: Applied Science and Manufacturing

Publication Date: Nov 11, 2020

Authors: Talha J. Pirzada, Shraddha Singh, Robin De Meyere, Philip Earp, Marina Galano, T. James Marrow

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1359835X20304346#!

Microstructure Characterization by X-Ray Computed Tomography of C/C-SiC Ceramic Composites Fabricated with Different Carbon Fiber Architectures

The microstructure morphologies have been characterized by high resolution laboratory X-ray computed tomography in Carbon Fiber Reinforced Carbon and Silicon Carbide (C/C-SiC) ceramic composites fabricated by Gaseous Silicon Infiltration (GSI) from C/C preforms of three different architectures: 3D stitched cloth fabric; 3D orthogonal woven fabric; and needled short-cut felt. Each composites’ microstructure was influenced by the structure of the C/C preform.

Journal: Applied Composite Materials 

Publication Date: · Jun 8, 2019

Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10443-019-09778-2

 

Structure and flexural properties of 3D needled carbon fiber reinforced carbon and silicon carbide (C/C-SiC) composites fabricated by gaseous and liquid silicon infiltration

3D needled carbon fiber reinforced composites (C/C-SiC) were fabricated by gaseous silicon infiltration (GSI) for different reaction times, followed by further densification with liquid silicon infiltration (LSI). The density, flexural modulus and flexural strength increased as a spatially connected SiC structure developed, but the flexural strength could be degraded by a long total reaction time. The composites all exhibited quasi-brittle fracture with fiber bundle pull-out and interfacial debonding. Fracture could propagate within the needle bundles that were perpendicular to the tensile stress.

Journal: Ceramics International 

Publication Date: · Jun 5, 2019

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272884219315007?via%3Dihub

Hygrothermal aging and structural damage of a jute/poly (lactic acid) (PLA) composite observed by X-ray tomography

Biodegradable plant fiber reinforced poly (lactic acid) (PLA) composites are potential replacements for traditional synthetic fiber reinforced composites. These may experience hygrothermal aging from the combined effects of moisture and heat. The effects of aging in water at 50 °C on water absorption, chemical degradation of the fibers and matrix, and the tensile properties of a jute fiber/PLA composite have been correlated with changes in the internal structure, observed by high-resolution computed X-ray tomography. 

Journal: Composites Science and Technology 

Publication Date: Mar 22, 2019

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0266353818313733

Electrochemical decolorization of Methylene blue at Pt electrode in KCl solution for environmental remediation

Paper on how to deal with non biodegradable effluents from the textile industry.
Electrochemical decolorization of Methylene blue (MB) molecules was studied at Pt electrode in presence of KNO3 and KCl as the supporting electrolytes under acidic condition. The KNO3 electrolyte displayed MB decolorization effect, where MB molecules exhibited two redox peaks at −0.48 V and −0.34 V, respectively, in cyclic voltammogram (CV).

Journal: Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 

Publication Date: · Apr 19, 2014

Link:  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1226086X14002111

Low Density Hydrous Iron Oxide via Conformal Transformation of MIL-53(Fe)

In my final year at the University, I worked under the supervision of Professor Frank Marken on developing a new way of producing nano particles of Hematite, cost effectively, for energy harvesting purposes. I was involved in the conversion of an Iron based Metal Organic Framework (MOF) into nano particle hematite and carried out the morphological characterization of the MOF using techniques such as Raman, XRD, FTIR, SAXS and EDX.

Journal: Chemistry Communication Journal 

Publication Date: · Oct 4, 2013

Link:    https://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2013/CC/C3CC46655H#