PhD Studentship: Microstructure and property of multiple metallic materials manufactured by novel 3

Engineering & the Environment

Location: Highfield Campus

Closing Date:  Saturday 03 February 2018

Reference: 836017F2

Project Reference: CDT-SIS-160

Additive Manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing is a process of producing items layer by layer. The key advantage of AM is the ability to produce complex shaped functional metallic components that cannot be easily produced by conventional methods. Components can be produced quickly and directly from a CAD model dramatically reducing production time, which also can reduce their environmental footprint through the reduction of waste and can deliver savings through improved product design. As a result, AM is regarded as an important revolution in manufacturing industry. The applications are potentially very wide-spread allowing lightweight, smart component manufacture with applicability to many sectors in sustainable infrastructure systems, including transport and energy systems.

Up to now, there has been extensive research on 3D printing of single metals, but little information is available for second-generation multiple materials additive manufacturing (MMAM). In fact, the most promising application of using high power laser is the possibility of integration of multiple materials into complex spatial locations, which cannot be achieved by any traditional manufacturing methods. It will open up a completely new manufacturing regime in which the products can be designed with far fewer constraints than from a single material. This will offer a revolutionary approach for manufacturing ‘designed materials’ with properties and functions which do not currently exist. In particular, the microstructure and mechanical property of AM-processed materials often suffer from local imperfections such as micron-sized pores, which have impact on the fatigue behaviour of MMAM materials.

The overall aim of this project is to establish the relationship between material, process, microstructure, mechanical property and fatigue behaviour of MMAM metallic components manufactured by our next generation of novel 3D printer only recently available at the University of Southampton. The specific objectives of this research are: (1) MMAM manufacturing with combination of different metallic materials; (2) Investigation of the solidification and microstructure of MMAM materials; (3) Study of microstructure-property relationship of MMAM materials; (4) Study of fatigue behaviour of MMAM materials; and (5) Simulation and modelling the strength of the MMAM processed alloys.

If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Dr Nong Gao, Engineering Materials and Surface Engineering Research Group, Email: nonggao@soton.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0) 23 8059 3396

This project is being run in participation with the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (http://www.cdt-sis.soton.ac.uk/). For details of our 4 Year PhD programme and further projects, please see http://www.cdt-sis.soton.ac.uk/.

To apply, please use the following website: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/engineering/postgraduate/research_degrees/apply.page

Further details:

• Job Description and Person Specification