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Research at Portsmouth has significantly improved the understanding of damage tolerance under creep-fatigue-oxidation conditions experienced in aero-engine components. The understanding has been developed through research on a new-generation disc materials including U720Li and RR1000, which have since been used in Rolls-Royce engines including Trent 900 in Airbus A380, Trent 1000 in Boeing 787 and the latest Trent for Airbus A350 XWB. These new materials have enabled aircraft to operate more efficiently at higher temperatures, with a major impact on CO2 emission and a significant impact on economy due to the new market opportunities and the reduction of operating costs.
Research in materials characterisation at Swansea University has produced a deeper understanding of the mechanical behaviour of proprietary engine components, and the potential improvements that can be made. The research has provided a critical technological contribution to the manufacture of efficient and robust gas turbine engines, fundamentally supporting the declaration of safe working lives for critical rotating components, contributing to a significant reduction in specific fuel consumption, and enabling Rolls-Royce to maintain a 40% share of the global civil aviation market. The research has led to the creation of a profitable spin-out company (Swansea Materials Research & Testing Ltd - SMaRT) with an initial annual turnover of £1m.
Aero-engine discs are complex to manufacture due to the exotic alloys required to withstand stress and temperature. Researchers at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) have devised a methodology for optimising the machining of the discs leading to a [text removed for publication] reduction in production time and [text removed for publication]. The availability of these methods has had a direct impact on the business case for a new Rolls-Royce factory in Gateshead, contributing to their decision to invest. [text removed for publication]
The impact presented in this case study is the commercialisation of 15 products with perfume microcapsules by Procter and Gamble (P&G), made possible using capsule mechanical strength data provided by Prof Zhibing Zhang's research group at Birmingham. Use of microcapsules gives improved freshness performance, and thus commercial advantage, compared with traditional formulations; they have been incorporated in P&G's four major billion-dollar brands — Downy, Febreze, Lenor and Tide. This has significantly improved their competitiveness enabling P&G to retain their leading position in the USA and Western Europe. A novel micromanipulation technique developed at the University of Birmingham has been used extensively to obtain mechanical properties data for the micro-particles, including microcapsules prepared in Birmingham and provided by companies, which is related to their formulation and processing conditions and end- use performance. In addition, the knowledge generated has helped 15 other companies to commercialise new functional products containing micro-particles.
Research in materials modelling by the Computational Science and Engineering Group (CSEG) is helping aerospace, defence and transport companies design advanced materials and new manufacturing processes. From lightweight components like aeroengine turbine blades to the control of magnetic fields to stabilise the next generation of International Space Station levitation experiments, CSEG is supporting innovations which have:
In the assessment period, CSEG collaborated closely with leading industries in steel-making (ArcelorMittal, Corus), primary aluminium (Dubal, Rusal, Norsk-Hydro, SAMI) and lightweight structural materials for transport and aerospace (European Space Agency, Rolls-Royce).
The University was the first adopter of the Direct Metal Laser Sintering/Melting (DMLS/M) technology in the UK resulting in significant research and knowledge transfer activities in the UK and globally. The University has and continues to be a catalyst in technology introduction for 5 out of the 10 UK companies that use this technology. This accounts for £2.5M of capital investment within the UK and is currently the largest concentration of this technology worldwide. Research has involved process optimisation, analytical simulation, materials development (including MMCs) with UK and international partners. Application research engagement has been in Automotive (including F1), Aerospace, Medical and Jewellery sectors.
Diffusion bonding (DB) is well-known for producing structured materials with fine scale features and is a critical technology for high efficiency reactors, e.g. heat exchangers and fuel cells, but currently equipment is slow and expensive (and there are size limitations to the `assemblies' that can be built). The University has researched and developed, with industry partners, a rapid affordable diffusion bonding (ADB) process involving direct heating to provide appropriate temperature and stress states and utilising flexible ultra-insulation (vacuum) for pressing titanium (and now aluminium) sheets together. The process operates at low stresses thus avoiding `channel' collapse. Investment is taking place in the partner companies to exploit the technology. A breakthrough has been achieved in the chemical machining of three dimensional structures for laminar flow technology assemblies in aluminium and titanium, that can be built by ADB.
Research into vibration damping has had a major economic and operational impact on Rolls- Royce resulting in a new design for [text removed for publication] engines used on [text removed for publication] wide body airliners. This has saved [text removed for publication] engine refit costs. The team has also designed a particle damper to reduce vibrations and significantly increase the life of the fuel system [text removed for publication].
Semiconductor wafers are subject to damage from misaligned handling tools, leading to cracks. Most of these are benign, but a few propagate to cause silicon wafer breakage during high temperature processing, leading to losses in production time costing millions of dollars per year. Research in Durham showed that X-ray Diffraction Imaging can be used to identify which cracks will catastrophically fail. As a consequence, Jordan Valley UK Ltd has designed and already sold over £M [text removed for publication] worth of X-ray imaging tools to the semiconductor industry. The company identifies this product as being critical to its continuation, safeguarding more than 25 jobs, and growth over the past 2 years.
Research at Manchester has led to the development of a new class of high performance magnesium alloys based on the addition of rare-earth alloying elements. The new alloys combine low density and the highest strength of any magnesium alloy. Used to substitute for aluminium in aerospace and automotive they produce weight savings of 35% improving performance and reducing fuel consumption. Commercialisation of these alloys by Magnesium Elektron (ME), the international leader in magnesium alloy development, contributes over $20m per annum to company revenue. This includes development of the first commercial product available for bioresorbable magnesium implants, SynermagTM, launched in 2012.