Aero Engine Degradation Prediction in Dusty Environments [Sponsor: Rolls-Royce; FULLY FUNDED]

This PhD is part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in "Materials for Demanding Environments" [CDT in M4DE], is sponsored by Rolls-Royce and will commence October 2017.

Background

Due to the location of transcontinental airport hubs, many commercial aircraft are required to take-off and land in dusty environments. Such environments contain concentrations of dust and sand: small, erosive particles lofted into the air by prevailing meteorological conditions. These particles are problematic for civil aircraft engines: to meet the power requirements of take-off, the engine draws in a huge amount of air at high velocity. Suspended particles are carried by the inlet air and effectively sand blast the engine, damaging key components such as compressor blades and nozzle guide vanes, leading to reductions in component efficiency, engine operability and ultimately service life. Quantifying this loss of efficiency is complicated by the variability of erodent type, engine architecture and component material. As operations from such airports become more numerous, there is an increasing demand to understand their potential to degrade engines, in order that mitigating strategies may be implemented.

Project Outline

The objective of this project is to predict the material and aerodynamic degradation of aero engines operating in harsh environments as a function of dust type. While many empirical formulae exist for the rate of erosion, and to a lesser extent the rate of deposition, Rolls Royce generally relies upon in-service experience and controlled sand and dust tests to estimate performance loss in demanding environments. As a result, the local prevailing conditions, which can vary hugely from one location to the next, are not accounted for. This project will conduct experiments on component damage over a range of particle properties including hardness, shape, mineral composition, crystallinity, density and viscosity under heating. To achieve the controls on dust properties, the project will use representative test dusts developed within the University of Manchester. A range of equipment including electron microscopes, high-speed photography and x-ray diffraction will be used to measure and characterise the dynamic damage process.
This is a truly multi-disciplinary project requiring expertise in material science, mineralogy, aerodynamics, and thermodynamics.

About Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce has established a strong position in global markets - civil aerospace, defence aerospace, energy, marine and power systems.

Rolls-Royce power more than 30 types of commercial aircraft and have almost 13,000 engines in service around the world. They provide power for all major defence aircraft sectors: transport; combat; patrol; trainers; helicopters and, unmanned vehicles. Rolls-Royce also has over 50 years of experience in the nuclear industry, and is a specialist for large engines, propulsion systems and distributed energy systems. In our Land & Sea division we have 4,000 customers and equipment installed on over 25,000 vessels worldwide, including those of 70 navies.