Rolls-Royce is to lead a £4.7 million ($7.8 million) research programme to develop advanced, affordable, lighter and more capable aerospace materials.
The Advanced Aero-engine Materials programme - run in collaboration with Qinetiq - will focus on high-temperature turbine materials, lightweight magnetic and electrical technologies, and advanced composites, joining techniques and powder material processes.
Research topics will include studies of material behaviour as well as the development of new material processes. The research aims to provide data to aid implementation of the materials, and definition of methods to calculate the life of components.
The programme also involves the UK universities of Birmingham, Cambridge, Cranfield, Manchester, Oxford and Swansea, together with Oxford-based Faraday Advance. It is co-funded by the UK's Department of Trade and Industry, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Ministry of Defence, and the target date for the first technology demonstration is 2008.
R-R director of materials Steve Garwood says aerospace manufacturers must balance key factors in selecting engine materials. "Improved performance is still of major importance, but cost of manufacture, cost of ownership and environmental impact are also vital considerations today," he says.
Source: Flight International
