Virginia Morete Barbosa Bertolo

Virgínia Bertolo holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Delft University of Technology (2018–2023), where she investigated cleavage fracture micromechanisms of high-strength steels and their heat-affected zones applied in the offshore and maritime sectors. Subsequently, she worked as a joint Postdoctoral Researcher at Delft University of Technology and Ghent University (2022–2024) focused on understanding liquid metal embrittlement micromechanisms in Zn-coated advanced high-strength steels.

Currently, Virgínia is a Postdoctoral Researcher at KTH Royal Institute of Technology’s Hultgren Laboratory, addressing the impact of shearing processes, such as hole punching, on the fatigue behavior of advanced high-strength steels used in the automotive industry. By employing cutting-edge techniques like Focused Ion Beam (FIB) – Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and micro-mechanical testing, micro residual stresses can be measured and strain partitioning analysed, supporting the design of steels with improved fatigue resistance.

Her research interests include advanced materials characterisation, the relationship between processing, microstructure, and properties, and the study of fracture micromechanisms across length scales in metallic materials under extreme environments.