Building New Capability in Structural Ceramics

我们计划建立一个世界领先的、多学科的英国结构陶瓷中心，以支持这些高度复杂材料的研究和开发。结构陶瓷令人惊讶地无处不在，不仅在明显的传统应用中（白色器皿，石膏，房屋砖，耐火材料，牙科瓷器和髋关节/膝关节假体），而且在隐藏的应用中，它们的电气行为也很重要，如计算机，移动电话，dvd等。结构陶瓷是支撑许多关键经济领域的使能材料，包括：能源生产，环境清理，航空航天和国防，运输和医疗保健。在能源生产方面可以取得重要发展的关键领域包括用于钚固定和下一代核反应堆燃料的陶瓷，用于固体氧化物燃料电池中的离子导体，以及用于预计氢经济的氢储存。需要开发用于重金属和放射性核素捕获过滤器的多孔陶瓷，以帮助土壤，空气和水的环境修复以及储存从燃烧化石燃料中捕获的碳。下一代航天飞机和其他军用飞机将依赖于陶瓷和复合热保护系统，其工作温度超过2000摄氏度。飞机涡轮叶片上的陶瓷涂层使它们能够在高于金属合金熔点的温度下工作，而改进的陶瓷能够在更高的温度下工作，这将提高燃油效率，并有利于环境。我们的部队需要改进个人身体和车辆装甲，以便在动乱地区安全行动，最新一代装甲材料将使用陶瓷层压板系统，但在这一领域总是需要改进。陶瓷越来越多地用于骨和牙齿的替代，其最新材料具有使自然骨长入的能力，并且具有接近自然骨的机械性能。很明显，提高对陶瓷机械性能的理解，更好更简单的加工，以及在许多长度尺度上建立结构-加工-性能关系模型的能力，不仅对英国，而且对人类都将带来重大利益。我们的目标是将帝国理工学院两个国际领先的部门（材料和机械工程）的能力结合起来，形成卓越中心。该中心将作为英国结构陶瓷研究的焦点，但将鼓励工业和大学合作伙伴参与英国和国际研发项目。51家公司和大学已经表示希望参与其中，并承诺提供超过90万美元的实物支持。研究活动将在三个关键领域开展：-测量机械性能及其在极端环境下的演变，如高温，苛刻的化学环境，严重的磨损和冲击条件以及这些条件的组合。-高温加工和制造。特别是，对于难以加工的材料，如硼化物、碳化物、氮化物、具有成分梯度的材料和陶瓷基复合材料（cmc），需要新的方法。-建立陶瓷变形和断裂的时间依赖性模型，以预测部件的使用寿命。建模技术将从将材料视为同质块到描述材料的原子性质，并且将建立这些方法之间的联系。除了提供资金，使我们能够建立中心可以发展的核心之外，还将与英国和国外的工业，大学和研究中心建立互利关系，以确保在寻求资金的时期结束后，一大批研究人员将长期保持活跃。

We plan to create a world-leading, multidisciplinary, UK Structural Ceramics Centre to underpin research and development of these highly complex materials. Structural ceramics are surprisingly ubiquitous not only in obvious traditional applications (whitewares, gypsum plaster, house bricks, furnace refractories, dental porcelains and hip/knee prostheses) but in hidden applications where their electrical behaviour is also important such as in computers, mobile phones, DVDs etc. Structural ceramics are enabling materials which underpin many key areas of the economy including: energy generation, environmental clean-up, aerospace and defence, transport and healthcare. Key areas where important developments can be made in energy generation include ceramics for plutonium immobilisation and for next generation nuclear reactor fuels, for ion conductors in solid oxide fuel cells, and for storage of hydrogen for the projected hydrogen economy. Porous ceramics need to be developed for heavy metal and radionuclide capturing filters to help with environmental remediation of soil, air and water and for storage of carbon captured from burning fossil fuels. The next generation of space shuttles and other military aircraft will rely on ceramic and composite thermal protection systems operating at over 2000C. Ceramic coatings on turbine blades in aircraft enable them to function at temperatures above the melting point of the metals alloys from which they are mostly made, and improved ceramics capable of operation at even higher temperatures will confer improved fuel efficiency with environmental benefits. Our troops need improved personal body & vehicle armour to operate safely in troubled areas and the latest generation of armour materials will use ceramic laminate systems but improvements always need to be made in this field. Ceramic are used increasingly for bone and tooth replacement with the latest materials having the ability to allow natural bone ingrowth and with mechanical properties close to natural bone. It is clear the improved understanding of the mechanical behaviour of ceramics, better and simpler processing and the ability to model structure-processing-property relations over many length scales will lead to significant benefit not just to the UK but to mankind. Our aim is to combine the capabilities of two internationally-leading Departments at Imperial College London (Materials and Mechanical Engineering) to form the Centre of Excellence. The Centre will act as a focal point for UK research on structural ceramics but will encourage industrial and university partners to participate in UK and international R&D programmes. 51 companies and universities have already expressed the wish to be involved with promised in-kind support at over 900K. Research activities will be developed in three key areas: -Measurement of mechanical properties and their evolution in extreme environments such as high temperatures, demanding chemical environments, severe wear and impact conditions and combinations of these.-High Temperature Processing and Fabrication. In particular, there is a need for novel approaches for materials which are difficult to process such as borides, carbides, nitrides, materials with compositional gradients and ceramic matrix composites (CMCs). -Modelling of the time-dependence of deformation and fracture of ceramics to predict the useful lifetime of components. The modelling techniques will vary from treating the material as a homogeneous block down to describing the atomic nature of the materials and links between these approaches will be established.In addition to providing the funding that will enable us to create the nucleus from which the centre can grow, mutually beneficial relations with industry, universities and research centres in the UK and abroad will be developed to ensure that a large group of researchers will remain active long after the period for which funding is sought will have ended.