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Aerospace

Research Area

How we support the Aerospace industry

A detailed understanding of the properties and behaviour of advanced materials in extreme conditions is of fundamental importance for the aerospace industry. The ability to assess the structural weakness of devices and materials on a microscopic scale is required for ensuring safety whilst boosting performance of engineering components.

Diamond's facilities are unique in the world for the non-destructive detailed analysis and modelling of strain, cracks and corrosion as well as in situ study of materials during processing, providing valuable tools for aerospace research and development.

Material Design

  • Research tools to aid in the Design of new materials;
  • Examine a wide range of advanced materials including metallic systems, ceramic, composite and performance polymers;
  • Characterise materials with respect to the evolution of microstructural, crystallographic transformations and residual stress.

Structural Materials

  • Investigate material manufacturing and processing problems;
  • Uncover cracks and voids, in static conditions or during in situ loading;
  • Element selective investigations of a wide range of materials; crystalline, and amorphous and at very low concentration;
  • Understand the effect of controlled environmental conditions on a material, component or engineering system.

Coatings

  • Investigate surface and layer structure and ordering in paints and performance coatings;
  • Monitor structural and chemical changes during catalysis or corrosion processes in their operating conditions;
  • Study the surface structure of multilayered components.

Fuels and Lubricants

  • Explore phase behaviour in fuels, oils and lubricants in the presence of additives;
  • Understand interfacial phenomena relating to friction, lubrication and wear;
  • Analyse particle size, shape evolution and self-assembly in colloidal systems.
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Rolls-Royce - strain in fan blades

Rolls-Royce partnered with Diamond Light Source to measure residual stresses in a Trent 1000 fan blade using energy dispersive X-ray diffraction on beamline I12. The non-destructive method enabled accurate, high-resolution analysis of surface treatments without damaging the component.

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