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Engineering

Research Area

How we support the Engineering industry

Innovation and advanced design approaches by engineers can solve complex real-world problems.  Novel concepts are needed to push performance boundaries and greater scientific insight is often needed to fully realise the design.  Increased insight can be achieved by improving the materials and processes used in the manufacturing route or measuring parameters such as stress and strain directly to validate computational models.  Additionally, in the event of catastrophic failure of the engineering system, a forensic method is often needed to re-engineer the component or system.

Diamond provides specialist analytical techniques for the atomic to microscale characterisation of materials ranging from high performance components and devices through to diagnostic tools and drug delivery technologies.

 

Stress and Strain

  • Measure the stress and strain to evaluate the mechanical performance of an engineering component or system in real time;
  • Study the residual stress and strain in a component that arises due to manufacturing processes by non-destructively mapping the strain profile in 3D;
  • Investigate failed components to determine the underlying cause and establish routes to re-engineer the component for future requirements.

Material Characterisation

  • Characterise the microstructure of a new material and understand how it evolved during the product life cycle;
  • Explore processing conditions to improve the microstructure and engineering performance;
  • Chemically and crystallographically map the material phases and determine detrimental features.

Corrosion

  • Chemically map the corrosion region to look at chemical segregation and understand nucleation points;
  • Understand the structure and chemical composition of a corrosion product;
  • Perform in situ experiments to follow a corrosion reaction and determine the kinetics;
  • Apply imaging methods to give a 3D view of the corroded region and measure physical features.

X-ray Imaging

  • Apply non-destructive imaging techniques to view inside a full engineering assembly at high magnification;
  • Understand solidification of materials by performing high speed radiography and tomography;
  • Uncover hidden cracks and deformation in static conditions or during in situ loading.
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Laser Additive Manufacturing

Researchers from the Research Complex at Harwell, Diamond Light Source’s I12 beamline, and the Central Laser Facility have developed a bespoke Laser Additive Manufacturing machine to study ultra-fast laser-powder interactions. Using high-speed X-ray imaging, they’ve mapped key mechanisms to optimise 3D printing for aerospace, energy and biomedical applications.

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