Development of Bulk Nanostructured Aluminium Alloys for High Strength Applications

拟议的研究解决了航空航天，国防和汽车工业对轻质材料性能的逐步改变的关键要求，以提高效率，减少排放和环境影响。将研究两种不同类型的纳米结构铝合金：块状纳米准晶合金和纳米纤维金属-金属复合材料，它们代表了在轻质材料中实现高温性能和高强度的新途径。这些纳米结构材料的小规模实验室研究已经被证明是非常有前途的，因此，探索它们的规模扩大到商业数量是及时的。此外，将研究一种全新的纳米准晶和纳米纤维合金的组合，以实现高达400℃的高强度，高刚度和高韧性的轻质合金。该项目将包括对制造条件的密切监测和控制，以及使用一些最先进的纳米表征方法，以便为后续的工程评估开发可重复和可靠的材料。我们将通过在实际应用中测试实际工程组件来展示开发的材料及其相关批量制造路线的可行性。在项目的最后一年，将选择合金成分/工艺组合来开发演示部件，如活塞、进气阀、压缩机叶片和板。我们汇集了来自先进材料供应链的大学研究人员和工业科学家之间的合作伙伴关系，以确保开发的科学知识得到最大限度的利用。该研究将在牛津大学材料系进行，该系是英国排名前5的材料系。它拥有接近工业规模的加工技术与最先进的表征设施的独特组合，以及卓越的技术转移基础设施，所有这些都是项目成功的关键。工业联盟为制造和测试最终演示组件提供关键资源。拟议的研究符合EPSRC计划的核心目标，该计划建立在现有能力和专业知识的基础上，并专注于新型纳米结构合金的大规模加工。

The proposed research addresses the key requirements of the aerospace, defence and automotive industries for a step-change in the performance of lightweight materials for greater efficiency, reduced emissions and environmental impact. Two different categories of nanostructured aluminium alloys will be studied: bulk nanoquasicrystalline alloys and nanofibril metal-metal composites, which represent a new and exciting way of achieving elevated temperature capability and high strength in light materials. Small-scale laboratory research on these nanostructured materials has already proven extremely promising, and it is therefore timely to explore their scale-up towards commercial quantities. Moreover, a wholly novel combined nanoquasicrystalline and nanfibril alloy will be studied in order to achieve a lightweight alloy with high strength, stiffness and toughness up to 400C. The project will involve the close monitoring and control of manufacturing conditions, and the use of some of the most advanced nanocharacterisation methods available in order to develop reproducible and reliable materials for subsequent engineering evaluation.We will demonstrate the viability of the materials developed and their associated manufacturing routes for bulk manufacture by testing real engineering components in real applications. In the final year of the programme, alloy composition/process combinations will be chosen for developing demonstrator components such as pistons, inlet valves, compressor blades and plates. We have brought together a partnership between university researchers and industrial scientists from the advanced materials supply chain, in order to ensure the scientific understanding developed is exploited with maximum impact.The research will be undertaken in the Department of Materials, University of Oxford, which is the top 5** rated materials department in the UK. It has a unique combination of near industrial scale processing techniques allied with state-of-the-art characterisation facilities, and an exceptional infrastructure for technology transfer, all of which are key to the success of the project. The industrial consortium provides key resources to manufacture and test final demonstrator components.The proposed research meets the core objectives of the EPSRC Programme building on existing capabilities and expertise and focussing on the large scale processing of novel nanostructured alloys.