Recipient organisationHigh Value Manufacturing CatapultSource-published name: High Value Manufacturing Catapult
Funding£7.2M
PeriodJan 2014 — Dec 2016
In plain English
AI plain-English summary
A new furnace at the University of Sheffield’s AMRC Castings will pour 1,000 kilograms of molten titanium at a time, producing aircraft components that are 30% stronger than steel and nearly 50% lighter. Until now, only the United States could make titanium castings this large. The UK aerospace industry—including Rolls-Royce, Airbus, and GKN Aerospace—had to buy them from abroad. The £15 million investment gives the UK its own capability to compete globally in a market worth $3.4 billion worldwide. The impact extends beyond aviation. The nuclear sector has already used smaller titanium castings from the same facility to cut costs, with potential savings of up to £150 million for Sellafield alone. Titanium’s strength retention at temperatures above 500°C makes it valuable for engines, structural components, and other high-stress environments. This is not fundamental science—it is applied manufacturing infrastructure. The furnace, with three interchangeable crucibles, will be ready for cold commissioning in November 2016 and first test melts in December. The project builds on existing expertise in smaller titanium castings, scaling up to meet industrial demand.
View original technical description
AMRC Castings’ new furnace is part of a major £15 million investment that will enable the UK to compete on a global scale, producing some of the biggest titanium aerospace castings in the world. The new furnace will be capable of pouring 1000kg of Titanium, the amount required to make a 500kg casting and has three interchangeable crucibles. Titanium is very valuable in the aerospace industry, with $3.4 billion of worldwide demand, used in a variety of aircraft engine and structures components. Titanium is 30% stronger than steel and nearly 50% lighter. Compared to aluminium, it is twice as strong and has excellent strength retention to over 500 degrees celsius. In addition to the benefit for the aerospace industry, there is also significant value for other industries. This has already been demonstrated in the nuclear sector, delivering significant cost reductions, which could be worth up £150m for Sellafield. Several leading UK businesses have already expressed their interests in utilising the titanium castings capability, in the near future, including: Rolls-Royce, Airbus and GKN Aerospace. Previously, the United States dominated this market and was the only country capable of producing such large castings. However, the investment at the AMRC will, enable the UK to compete globally, building on the organisations extensive expertise in manufacturing smaller titanium castings. “We plan to create a world class Titanium casting capability in the UK developing the skills base necessary to enable companies to reap the rewards of carrying out a process that is very, very challenging,” commented AMRC Castings’ Commercial Manager, Richard Gould. Furnace construction is due to finish in time for training and cold commissioning, to start during November 2016, and will be followed by hot commissioning and the first test melts in December.
Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.
Is something wrong? Let us know