This project aims to provide a methodology for the manufacture of the piston and cylinder assemblies (PCA’s)

The continual need for gas turbines to operate with higher efficiency has resulted in the demand for increase in operating temperature of components throughout the gas stream. A consequence of this is that components that were once considered ‘low-risk’ are becoming susceptible to high-temperature corrosion, stress-corrosion and corrosion-fatigue damage and, in some instances, failure.

Here, we use and assess an in-situ liquid TEM cell aiming to increase understanding of a particular silicate glass alteration that results in solution-phase hydroxyapatite (HA) like material formation. 1-3

The project is concerned with bringing new insights with regard to the fundamental electrical properties of the carbon nanotube (CNT) textiles being produced by the University of Cambridge's Macromolecular Material Laboratory (MML). Utilising time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) and optical pump-terahertz probe spectroscopy (OPTPS) charge-carrier lifetimes, insights into the charge-carrier dynamics and quantities equivalent to ac conductivity can be extracted. It is hoped that through examination of the results from OPTPS, a characteristic ratio of the semiconducting-to-metallic nanotubes present in each textile can be found.

Temperature profiling of components in thermal power plant is of increasing importance as engineers drive to increase firing temperatures and optimize engine efficiency. In order to increase efficiency and lower CO2 emissions, higher firing temperatures are required coupled with improved and optimised cooling patterns for any highly thermally loaded parts.

Cold spray is a metallic powder deposition technique which has been traditionally used to create coatings on substrates to repair or enhance them. Recently cold spray has been introduced to the additive manufacturing sector, being used to fabricate and/or repair free standing components. The status quo is that machining is required after the deposition to obtain the desired form and texture.

The project aims at evaluating a novel approach to develop an advanced radiation scatter camera by exploiting the concept of high-resolution liquid scintillator filled heterostructure fibres. A framework of these fibres forming a single volume radiation medium will enable the development of the next generation of radiation imagers by substantially improving the current technology performance.

This research project will investigate the design, fabrication, application, and testing of hierarchical carbon nanotube (CNT) structures. Advanced manufacturing processes will be employed to create these structures, including lithography techniques, chemical vapour deposition, and elastocapillary aggregation of vertically aligned CNT forests. Much of the work will focus on the modification of the resulting CNT structures for Lithium-ion battery electrodes.

High quality drug screening is essential for time and cost-efficient drug discovery and future personalized medicine. Key missing features of commercially available screening solutions are (a) the lack of a human-like 3D tissue microenvironment and the complex organization of multiple cells into organ tissue (organoids) to simulate proper organ function and (b) an understanding of the behaviour of such soft materials. This project contributes to the latter issue by developing a highly reliable method achieving high repeatability in measuring the elastic modulus of a phantom soft material in a 3D printed structure (specifically hydrogel).

Coatings on the cutting tools is a long last sustainable business area and hence they need better and more accurate real time assessment methods of fracture toughness – an important property driving wear of coatings beside hardness and elastic modulus.