Advanced Materials: Engineering and Industrial Applications MSc

To investigate the established and emerging processes applied to advanced materials when manufacturing engineering components and systems.

• Overview of manufacturing processes with links to specific materials.
• Material – Process – Microstructure – Performance relationship.
• Developments in Casting, Extrusion and Injection Moulding.
• Additive Manufacture / 3D Printing (fused deposition, selective laser sintering, stereo lithography, WAAM).
• Photolithography and Advanced Lithography-based Methods.
• Green body shaping, solid state sintering and hot-pressing.
• Sol-gel processing and thin-film growth (ceramics).
• Processing materials for electronic and optical applications.
• Secondary Processing (post -processing treatments).
• Microstructure and Materials Characterisation.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Appraise recent developments fabrication processes for the production of engineering components and identify their main areas of application and limitations. 

2. Examine the relationships between material properties, processing conditions, metrology and performance. 

3. Design appropriate manufacturing routes and post manufacturing treatments for producing products with required properties [stiffness, hardness, toughness, strength, corrosion resistance etc]. 

4. Compare and contrast the processes used in additive manufacturing for a range of materials and applications. 

5. Evaluate strategies towards sustainable manufacturing (management of resources).

To provide a detailed awareness of composite material types, their current and emerging manufacturing techniques and an understanding of materials selection and the design process for effective parts manufacturing.

• Design requirements for components and structures – where composite materials can provide benefits over isotropic materials (include case studies/examples).
• Fibres and fabrics – their applications.
• Matrix types - their applications.
• The design process – including materials and process selection.
• Joint design and assembly technology.
• Manufacturing processes and technologies.
• Manufacturing with nano modified resins.
• Mould tooling and moulding process simulation – fabric draping and resin impregnation.
• Thermoplastic composite materials and structures manufacturing.
• Automation developments & emerging processes for high-rate manufacturing.
• Aircraft composites structures manufacturing - non-destructive evaluation.
• Sustainable composites & recycling techniques.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Compare the types of composite materials available and their properties and benefits / challenges.

2. Justify appropriate manufacturing techniques for a wide range of industrial, automotive and aircraft composite structures.

3. Assess current areas of technology development for composites processing.

4. Examine how materials selection, structural load and strain estimation, laminate design and manufacturing and assembly process definition influence the design process.

5. Evaluate performance-cost balance implications of materials and process choice.

To introduce the latest developments across the range of materials dimensionality (from 0D to 3D nanomaterials), and provide basic principles governing characteristics and use in advanced functional and multi-functional structures.

• Basic training in multi-disciplinary nanoscience.
• Metal and metal oxide nanomaterials, carbon based materials, such as single-walled or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs or MWCNTs), graphene and graphene oxide, carbon dots, polymeric nanomaterials, nano biomaterials. 
• The rapid development of multi functional nanomaterials giving the possibility of designing better and unique structures and devices with outstanding properties. 
• Embodied energy in materials.
• Selection and engineering with nanomaterials.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Examine developments in nanoscience and applications.

2. Compare and contrast across the range of available nanomaterials (0D, 1D, 2D and 3D).

3. Investigate opportunities and challenges to use of nanomaterials.

4. Appraise multi-functional nanomaterials.

To provide you with an overview of the mechanical and physical behaviours exhibited by advanced materials, and to relate these to the use of these materials in industry and on future industrial applications.

• Mechanics of materials – strength, stiffness, hardness, corrosion, fatigue.

o Focus on metals (superalloys, shape memory alloys, amorphous metals), glasses, polymers (stronger focus on thermoplastic polymers), ceramics (bulk materials and coatings), metamaterials. o Manufacture, forming and shaping of these classes of materials.

• Functional properties of materials including thermal (incl. thermomechanical, thermoelectric), electric (incl. piezoelectric), magnetic, optical, biocompatibility.

o Focus on metals (superalloys, shape memory alloys, amorphous metals), glasses, polymers (stronger focus on thermoplastic polymers), ceramics (bulk materials and coatings), metamaterials.

• Requirements and applications for emerging materials in ICT, energy and mobility, life sciences, healthcare, cosmetics, food, consumer goods, and manufacturing.

• Industrial cases studies demonstrating how and where these materials have been applied in real life applications.

o Materials include uses of superalloys, amorphous metals, high entropy alloys, thermal conductors/insulators, electrical conductors/insulators, materials for optical applications, etc.

• Sustainability implications of materials selection regarding effects on processing, usage and end-of-life in the context of energy, environmental hazards, labour, recycling, etc with a link to UNSDGs.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. Discuss the mechanical and physical behaviour of advanced materials that allow the exhibiting of unique properties.
2. Analyse the suitability of various classes of advanced materials, including metals, glasses, polymers, and ceramics, for industrial applications. 
3. Examine industrial case studies to demonstrate how advanced materials improve performance. 
4. Evaluate the implications of using these materials and their manufacturing for components on current and future applications across various sectors.

To identify strategies for reducing impact on the environment from materials, manufacturing, and application activities (from cradle to grave), including impact of use of alternative materials, alternative manufacturing routes and implementation of renewable energy sources.

• Current landscape relating to the impact from current use of materials and legislation/initiatives to reduce environmental impact. 
• Sustainable Polymers, Composites and Metals and Ceramics/Glasses – current and future opportunities to implement alternative materials to reduce CO2 emissions. 
• Introduction to Life Cycle Assessments/ Life Cycle Thinking (Case study on Polymers, Composites, Metals and Ceramics, Aero, Automotive), and how sustainability issues can influence Materials selection at the design stage. 
• Materials supply chain challenges and reliance on critical materials for innovative technologies to reduce CO2 emissions. 
• Materials for Energy conversion (Structural batteries; Hydrogen; Thermal and Solar).
• Materials for Energy Storage (supercapacitors, hydrogen storage, battery technologies).

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Examine opportunities and strategies to reduce the CO2 footprint for materials and manufacturing processes/applications which are recognised as environmentally harmful.

2. Appraise the current technologies targeting reducing CO2 emissions, identifying challenges and benefits.

3. Compare and contrast the impact of using alternative materials and alternative energy sources to meet a net zero CO2 emission target.

4. Apply and examine fundamental understanding of life cycle assessments to identify the activities which produce significant CO2 emissions [materials extraction, manufacture, transport, storage, use, end of life].

To provide you with the knowledge and skills required to enable you to carry out the selection of appropriate materials for a wide range of engineering and other applications in a sustainable way.

• Introduction to the Ansys Granta Edupack materials selection software.
• Review of specific materials classes: 
  • Metallic alloys (Fe, Al, Cu, Ni, Zn, Mg, Ti-based).
  • Polymers: polyolefins, polyesters, nylons, aramids, resins, elastomers.
  • Ceramics: cement, glass, nitrides, carbides.
  • Composites: GFRP, CFRP, cermet's.
  • Natural materials: wood, rock, leather, bamboo.
• Review of important "material properties": Toughness, Fatigue, Corrosion, etc.
• Review manufacturing/processing routes.
• The Materials Selection Process.
  • Constraints and Objectives.
  • Multi-criteria and conflicting criteria.
  • Material performance indices.
  • Ashby plots o Selection and Ranking.
• Sustainability and use of the eco-audit tool.
• Guided student activities (formative assessment) 
  • Simple ranking exercise.
  • Group work – materials selection exercise and presentation.
  • Individual work – materials selection exercise and presentation.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Recognise and examine a wide range of materials and their properties to undertake materials selection effectively, using appropriate reference sources (books, data sheets, computer databases).

2. Evaluate materials with respect to material properties, manufacturing processes and sustainability issues for a given design specification or application.

3. Apply and appraise a systematic process for the selection of material(s) to meet the requirements of a component design brief.

4. Compare candidate materials with respect to sustainability and availability.

5. Prepare and present effective oral or written presentations to justify materials selection.

To introduce numerical modelling methods and apply them to materials processing and performance settings.

• Modelling of materials processing and relevant heat transfer, fluid flow and chemical diffusion simulation.
• Non-linear material behaviour and coupling of physics. 
• Formulations of the finite element (FE), finite differences (FD) and finite volume methods (FV). 
• Formulation of particle-based modelling methods. 
• Multiscale modelling and modelling across different scales. 
• Application of FE, FD, FV and particle based methods. 
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning based modelling and its application to materials. 
• Use of modelling for process and component design and optimisation. 
• Stochastic simulation of material processing and performance. 
• Inverse problems in materials processing and material property estimation.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
1. Examine developments in nanoscience and applications.

2. Compare and contrast across the range of available nanomaterials (0D, 1D, 2D and 3D).

3. Investigate opportunities and challenges to use of nanomaterials.

4. Appraise multi-functional nanomaterials.