Strategic Partnership in Structural Metallic Systems for Gas Turbines

英国航空航天工业是欧洲最大的，在世界范围内仅次于美国。航空航天部门直接支持3,000多家公司，并在英国提供23万个工作岗位。重要的是，大部分就业岗位都在东南部以外，平均工资高于全国平均水平。在英国，燃气涡轮发动机的制造占航空航天业务的32%，并由劳斯莱斯主导，劳斯莱斯及其供应链提供了114，000个工作岗位。该研究计划汇集了伯明翰，剑桥，帝国理工学院，曼彻斯特，牛津，谢菲尔德和斯旺西的大学，进行实现新材料技术所需的基础研究，这些新材料技术将为燃气轮机的效率提供阶梯式变化。这将有助于确保英国航空航天工业的商业竞争力，同时减少英国的二氧化碳排放量，从而满足国际法规的要求，降低不可逆转的气候变化的可能性。研究将集中在开发新的高性能钢、镍、钴、钛和铝基合金，以满足燃气涡轮机发动机最苛刻的应用要求。它还将寻求获得这些材料的性能和降解的基本理解，以确保它们可以安全使用，而不损害发动机性能。它还将包括对关键技术的额外研究活动，如涡轮机叶片密封件的先进连接方法和材料。这些材料技术将与工业合作伙伴密切合作开发，以确保它们符合工业需求，并提供商业开发途径。

The UK aerospace industry is the largest in Europe and, worldwide, second only to the US. The aerospace sector directlysupports more than 3,000 companies and provides 230,000 jobs in the UK. Importantly, most of this employment fallsoutside the south-east and the average wage is above the national average. In the UK, the manufacture of gas turbineengines represents 32% of the aerospace business and is dominated by Rolls-Royce, with 114,000 jobs supported byRolls-Royce and its supply chain.This research programme brings together the universities of Birmingham, Cambridge, Imperial College, Manchester,Oxford, Sheffield and Swansea, to perform the fundamental research required to realise new materials technologies thatwill provide step-changes in the efficiency of gas turbines. This will help secure the commercial competitiveness of much ofthe UK aerospace industry whilst simultaneously serving to reduce UK CO2 emissions, thereby satisfying internationallegislation and decreasing the likelihood of irreversible climate change.The research will focus on the development of the new, high performance steels, nickel, cobalt, titanium and niobium-basedalloys required for the most demanding applications with gas turbine engines. It will also seek to obtain thefundamental understanding of the performance and degradation of these materials needed to ensure that they may beused safely, without compromising engine performance. It will also include additional activities investigating key enablingtechnologies, such as advanced joining methods and materials for turbine blade seals.These materials technologies will be developed in close collaboration with the industrial partners to ensure that they arematched to industrial need and that a route for commercial exploitation is available.