Failure Fundamentals: Understanding the role of Hydrogen in Jet Engine Failure

The Department of Materials at Imperial College London, as part of the new CDT in Materials 4.0, is looking for a candidate to undertake a PhD project in the field of Metallurgy, investigating failure in jet engine materials. The project will be in collaboration with a Rolls-Royce plc. The studentships include fees and a stipend for the duration of 4 years.

Materials in gas turbine engines undergo extreme conditions in terms of both temperature and loading. Failure of critical parts can be catastrophic, and therefore we must have reliable techniques at hand to both prevent failures and understand failures when they occur. 

In recent years, there have been significant advances in microscopy capabilities that can be used to assess crack path damage, and the plastic wake beneath a crack. In this project, we will use electron backscatter diffraction to analyse the plastic wake in different loading regimes in both nickel and titanium alloys, and under elevated temperature. This will be combined with transmission electron microscopy to investigate the fundamental failure mechanisms. This will be used to develop robust methods for analysing material failures to predict the failure mode.

The development of hydrogen powered gas turbine engines presents a further question, in whether we can use these tools to assess hydrogen related failures. It is well known that hydrogen embrittles engineering alloys, so we must ensure the tools that are developed can be applied to a new chemical environment. This will include the use of cryogenic atom probe tomography to connect the chemical signature of the failure to the plastic wake field, to fully understand the failure mechanisms occurring.

This project aims to provide an essential tool for use in failure investigation in an $18.9 billion global industry, which can be applied to real-life in-service issues that occur. Understanding these failures not only saves significant costs (in the millions) but also leads to safer air travel. 

The selected candidate will be based in a dynamic research team with focus on sustainable metallurgy and hydrogen interactions in the Engineering Alloys research theme, based in the Department of Materials at Imperial College London while being part of the of the Materials 4.0 CDT, which involves several UK-based universities. Applicants should have interest in: metallurgy, electron microscopy, mechanical testing and data analysis. Good teamwork and communication skills are essential. In addition, the candidates should have (or be expecting to obtain) a first degree (1st class or upper second class) in materials, mechanical engineering, chemistry, physics, or a relevant subject.

If you are interested in applying, please send a CV and a motivation letter to Dr Abigail Ackerman (a.ackerman14@imperial.ac.uk).