PhD projects for Oct 2011
Abrasives for aerospace applications
Abrasives capable of operating at temperatures up to 1300 °C are used to greatly increase the efficiency of gas turbines. Because of its extreme hardness, the cubic form of boron nitride is most commonly used, although it is prone to oxidation at relatively low temperatures. However the criteria required for an abrasive under such extreme conditions of temperature and sliding speed are not known. The aim of this work therefore is to understand what materials properties are required and how these materials degrade, for instance by cracking or plastic flow, for an abrasive under extreme conditions, so that suitable alternative materials might be found. The project will involve mechanical testing at high speeds, as well as testing of the mechanical behaviour of suitable abrasives at elevated temperatures using techniques such as micropillar compression, characterising the deformation behaviour in detail using scanning and transmission electron microscopy.
The project is a Dorothy-Hodgkin award, jointly funded by EPSRC and Rolls-Royce, and can fund students with a 1st class degree, including a Masters, from India, China or Malaysia only.
For further details, please contact Bill Clegg.
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