About the Project
In manufacturing, automotive and aerospace applications, cryogenic treatments are used to improve strength, fatigue and wear resistance of structural and hard wearing engineering materials. However, for many applications these materials are also coated for tribological benefits or corrosion resistance. The proposed research will therefore explore the effects of cryogenic treatments on engineering coating systems through materials characterisation, mechanical and chemical testing techniques.
Cryotreatments are offered as after-market heat treatments conducted on small volumes of finished or semi-finished products. Preventing their further exploitation is understanding the effect that process parameters have on the microstructure, properties and performance of engineering materials and coatings. This limits the materials and applications to which they can be successfully applied.
In coating-substrate systems, the effects that any treatment has on either coating, substrate or the interface must be considered. If the substrate is significantly affected by the treatment, then the process order may also need consideration (i.e. whether to coat before or after treatment).
The project will involve the production of a variety of engineering coating-substrate systems to be subjected to cryogenic treatment. Coatings will be characterised using microstructural characterisation techniques including electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, and their performance evaluated using mechanical and tribological testing methods.
Funding Notes
Funding Information
IMPaCT students are fully funded studentships which include:
• A full UK/EU fee waiver for 4 years
• An annual tax free stipend of £14,777 (2018/19)
• Possibility of additional top up for industry sponsored projects.
• Generous Research Training Support Grant.
Studentships are open to UK Home / EU applicants who meet the residency criteria which is set out by the Research Council EPSRC.
A limited amount of partial funding is available for exceptional international applicants who are highly qualified and motivated. Due to the nature of this funding, the CDT would only be able to cover the cost of the Home/EU fees and therefore the applicant would need to either find alternative funding or self-fund the fee difference
References
References
T. Slatter and R. Thornton, (2016), Cryogenic Treatment of Engineering Materials, Reference Module in Materials Science and Engineering. ISBN 978-0-12-803581-8, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-803581-8.09165-7.
R. Thornton, T. Slatter and R. Lewis, (2014), Effects of deep cryogenic treatment on the wear development of H13A tungsten carbide inserts when machining AISI 1045 steel, Production Engineering, Volume 8, Issue 3, Pages 355-364, ISSN 0944-6524, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11740-013-0518-7.
R. Thornton, T. Slatter and H. Ghadbeigi, (2013), Effects of deep cryogenic treatment on the dry sliding wear performance of ferrous alloys, Wear, Volume 305, Issues 1–2, Pages 177-191, ISSN 0043-1648, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2013.06.005.
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