Corrosion Protection of Next Generation Aluminium Alloys for Light Weight, High Strength Automotive Applications

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Project Detail:
Applications are invited for a PhD studentship to investigate the effect of welding and joining on the corrosion behaviour of automotive aluminium alloys. The studentship is fully funded for a UK student, will run for 4 years and will start from October 2017. It will be run in close collaboration with Constellium (a world leading manufacturer of aluminium products), co-supervised by Dr. Simon Hogg and Professor Geoffrey Wilcox in the Department of Materials at the University of Loughborough.

The automotive industry is critical to the UK economy with over £70 billion turnover and directly employs around 170000 people. This project will investigate the effect of welding newly developed, extruded Al alloys with increased strength to provide an effective materials solution for light weighting in automotive applications. Automotive alloys are often welded, as fasteners (rivets, bolts etc.) increase weight, but this can cause significant issues with corrosion performance as the alloy additions become locally segregated, leading to galvanic effects. The project will investigate the fundamental mechanisms of corrosion in a range of newly industrialised alloys (both similar and dissimilar metals), joined using conventional fusion welding as well as more advanced laser and electromagnetic pulse techniques. The understanding generated will then lead to corrosion protection strategies being developed. The research work will use a range of microstructure characterisation techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The corrosion behaviour will be investigated using electrochemical methods and key features that link the corrosion and microstructure will be studied and mitigation strategies will be developed based on these links.

Find out more:
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/materials/

Entry requirements:
Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2:1 Honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant science subject (Chemistry, Physics or Materials Science/Engineering) or a related subject. A relevant Master’s degree and/or experience in one or more of the following will be an advantage: Materials, Metallurgy, Chemistry or Physics.

Funding information:
Funding is provided by the EPSRC National Productivity Investment Fund. The studentship is for four years and provides a tax free stipend of £14,553 per annum for the duration of the studentship plus tuition fees at the UK/EU rate. Due to funding restrictions, this is only available to those who are eligible to pay UK/EU fees. In order to qualify for a full award, all applicants must meet the EPSRC eligibility criteria including the minimum UK residency requirement https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/skills/students/help/eligibility/

Application details:
Reference number: MP-SCH-1712
Start date: October 2017
Closing date: 7 June 2017
Interview date: June 2017

Primary supervisor: Dr. Simon Hogg
Secondary supervisor: Professor Geoffrey Wilcox

Contact details:
Dr. Simon Hogg, [Email Address Removed], 01509 223332
Professor Geoffrey Wilcox, [Email Address Removed], 01509 223173

How to apply:
All applications should be made online at http://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/apply/research/. Under programme name, select ‘Materials’

Please quote reference number: MP-SCH-1712