Jet engines need titanium fan blades that can withstand millions of repeated stress cycles without cracking—and the current workhorse alloy, Ti-6Al-4V, is reaching its limits. Rolls-Royce and its partners have identified six candidate alloys that promise better fatigue resistance, damage tolerance, and weldability. But no one yet understands exactly how these materials respond to mechanical loading at the microscopic level. This project will fill that gap by systematically testing small-scale melts of each alloy, varying their chemistry and processing routes, then characterising the resulting microstructure and texture using advanced microscopy. If the research succeeds, it will reveal which alloy—or which combination of composition and heat treatment—can replace Ti-6Al-4V in fan blades and discs. That would allow engine manufacturers to run turbines at higher stresses or for longer lifetimes without catastrophic failure. The work is applied, not fundamental: the student will work directly with Rolls-Royce engineers, and the findings are intended to feed into the company’s production decisions. For passengers, the payoff would be quieter, more fuel-efficient engines that stay in service longer between overhauls.
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Titanium alloys are used in high performance rotating components for both large and small/medium civil gas turbines. For applications such as fan blades and fan discs, titanium alloys with enhanced strength and fatigue performance are required. Rolls-Royce currently utilises mainly Ti-6Al-4V for applications under 350C with new titanium alloys currently under development. As part of the ATI funded BETA program a number of commercially developed and R-R IP alloys are being considered. These alloys are RR11, S23, Ti542, Ti407, Ti412 and Titan 27. Latest developments on jet engines have raised the need for an alternative to Ti-6Al-4V with improved Range-mean fatigue performance, damage tolerance and cold dwell fatigue insensitivity while having good weldability to other titanium alloys and whose properties must be maintained after post welding heat treatment. Ti407 and Ti412 are known as lean aluminium alloys as they have much lower aluminium contents than common titanium alloys such as Ti-6Al-4V. They have been developed to enhance ductility at failure and hence energy absorption capability. Ti542 has been developed by Timet to be an alternative to Ti64 that is less sensitive to cold dwell. S23 has been developed via powder metallurgy route as a high strength titanium alloy may show enhanced fatigue performance. Finally, Titan27 has been developed as an improved Ti64 with excellent cold and hot workability. The primary purpose of this investigation is to develop fundamental understanding of how the down selected alloys respond to mechanical loading. It is envisaged that work would be carried out on the processing and optimization on the down selected materials to investigate the effect of chemistry variation using small scale melts and processing routes on the mechanical properties and its scalability to production size components. During the programme, the student will develop core skills in advanced microscopy, such as microstructural and texture characterisation, fundamental titanium metallurgy and thermomechanical processing. The student will develop an insight into the development path of alloys for usage in the aerospace sector and work closely with engineers at Rolls-Royce.
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