The goal of this project is to help accelerate the process of design and development of Al alloys for sustainable manufacturing. Currently, the approach to developing new alloys involves selecting a standardised alloy and then modifying its composition through trial and error based on research insights and experience. This is a costly and time-consuming process that can take years to yield an alloy with the desired properties. Our approach here is to develop physical and empirical models to analyze and rank thousands of potential alloy compositions simultaneously across a range of performance metrics. This optimisation tool operated by industrial partner allows for more efficient and effective identification of new alloy compositions that meet specific performance requirements. In this project, we design and develop (i) high performance, cost effective aluminium alloy for additive manufacturing (ii) high pressure die cast alloy with higher thermal conductivity (as close as 6xxx series alloy) and (iii)end-of life scrap tolerant high pressure die cast alloy.

The extremely narrow bands of localised shear deformation known as Adiabatic Shear Bands (ASBs) appear in metals and alloys subject to intense, high strain rate loading such as ballistic impacts or high rate manufacturing. Despite their reduced dimensions, the bands act as dramatic weak spots because their microstructure and morphology is radically different from the surrounding material. ASBs form suddenly and unexpectedly, and predicting them is difficult. Their sudden appearance while in-service invariably leads to the catastrophic failure of aerospace and defence systems (turbine blades, armour,...). Equally, ASBs dominate high rate manufacturing (machining, additive manufacturing, forming): efficiency calls for the sort of high rate, fast loads that tend to introduce undesired ASBs, greatly weakening the manufactured piece be- low specification. Owing to the huge volumes of manufactured pieces and to the high cost of design cycles in the defence and aerospace industries, predictive methodologies able to address ASB formation would lead to vast cost savings and efficiencies. Despite decades of research, the micro- and mesoscopic processes that cause ASB remain elusive. Whereas their growth and ultimate failure are relatively well-understood as thermomechanical instabilities, ASB initiation takes places at pico- and sub-micron scales that fall beyond current experimental measurement capabilities. Equally so, the inherently dynamic (time-dependent) loading conditions under which ASBs form have hitherto precluded the theoretical modelling of the phenomenon. Across three work packages (WP), this project addresses the inherent difficulties in modelling the initiation of ASBs by developing an ambitious, truly dynamic, multiscale modelling protocol with which to study and predict the conditions (loading, composition, microstructure) that promote the onset of ASBs in cubic and hexagonal metals. WP1 Microscale delivers a fundamental understanding of the physical source of the instability that gives rise to ASBs, by employ atomistic models (MD & lattice dynamics) with which to study sources of dislocation generation and dislocation motion under loads known to promote ASB. WP2 Mesoscale develops an entirely new formulation of thermo-elastodynamic dislocation dynamics (DD) with which to model ASB initiation and emergence at the mesoscale; this formulation addresses all current modelling limitations unable to account for the materials' inertia and thermal effects long since postulated to play a dominant role in the initiation of ASBs. WP3 Multiscale then combines WP1 and WP2 to develop a predictive multiscale model for ASB with which to study formation conditions (loading, composition, microstructure) in target metallic systems (Ti6Al4V, W, Al) of high scientific interest and industrial relevance. The resulting modelling protocol will enable the study of ASBs at the mesoscale for the first time, and produce a methodology with which to (1) predict and diagnose ASB failure in metallic systems, and (2) guide materials selection so as to select the most desirable microstructures with which to avoid or promote ASB formation. These tools will streamline the design cycle of aerospace and defence pieces subject to impacts, and optimise manufacturing operations reliant on minimising ASB formation (additive manufacturing, machining).

Vehicle lightweighting represents a vital strand of an integrated national approach to transport decarbonisation. There is a general agreement that the CO2 emissions from cars needs to be cut by at least 50% to prevent the well-to-wheels carbon emission from the world car fleet rising above 7bn tonnes rather than the more sustainable 4bn tonnes by 2050. The UK Government has set an even higher target of a 60% reduction in transport sector CO2 emissions by 2030. Implementation of lightweighting across all classes of vehicles plays an important role in achieving this target. Magnesium (Mg), as a lightest structural metal combined with superior damping capacity, has tremendous potential in achieving lightweighting in vehicles with improved noise, vibration and harshness performance. Recent Mg market research suggests that the global Mg alloys market will increase from £1 billion in 2018 to £2.8 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of ~12.7% between 2019 and 2026 which is expected to be driven by demand for Mg alloys from the automotive & transportation applications due to fuel efficiency and emission regulations. The automotive industry is aiming to increase Mg content from 8.6kg/car in 2017 to 45kg/car by 2030. Among variety of Mg alloys, aluminium containing Mg (Mg-Al) alloys are being used in automotive sector due to their competitive cost. However, their widespread use in vehicle is hindered by their lower strength. To help realise this growth and to meet the stringent design and safety criteria for lightweighting, it is necessary to enhance the strength of existing cost-effective Mg-Al alloys significantly. The addition of rare-earth (RE) elements and noble metals in magnesium has been successfully utilised to achieve a significant improvement in strength. The alloys that have high RE content exhibit improved strength that meets lightweight design requirement. However, due to the resource scarcity and high cost, the alloys containing RE elements are impractical for their mass structural applications in automotive sector. The role of precipitation hardening in Mg alloys could be fulfilled by ex-situ phase particles, if they are dispersed within the Mg matrix rather than segregated at the grain boundaries. Substantiated by the proof-of-concept study, the proposed research programme aims to develop high strength, cost effective dispersion strengthened magnesium (DSM) alloys. It also investigates the criteria for the stability of nanocolloids, solidification behaviour and establishes process maps suitable for manufacturing DSM alloys using practical casting processes. Technologically, the DSM alloys represent a step change in the manufacturing technology to produce lightweight automotive components. If certain Al and steel are replaced with DSM alloys, the expected weight saving would be significant. In the longer term, it will lead to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions and offer sizable fuel savings. The industrial partners, comprising a materials supplier, component producers, alloy designer and an end user are an added value and help to accelerate the knowledge transfer activity from academia to industry.

The job of materials science is to develop the materials that we need to make all of the things that we rely on in our daily lives. These range from the materials used to make large scale objects, such as aeroplanes and buildings, right down to the smallest scales like the processors in the electronic devices we use every day. These materials are often complicated and need to be carefully designed with just the right properties needed to do their jobs for many decades and often in incredibly harsh conditions. There are many current challenges that require us to develop new, improved materials. We need to meet our net-zero climate goals and get better at designing products that can be fully recycled, for example. And there are some resources that we currently use in important materials for which we would like to find alternatives. These are difficult challenges and we need to overcome them quickly. But the way that materials scientists have worked to develop a new material in the past is too slow: it can take up to 20 years to develop a new material and we cannot wait that long. Fortunately, recent developments in the computer simulation of materials, in robotics and sensor technology, in our ability to exploit large volumes of data through machine learning and in techniques for quickly making and testing large numbers of different materials can help to speed things up. This idea, bringing digital technologies together to help us make better materials more quickly, is called "Materials 4.0". If we are going to take advantage of Materials 4.0 then we need to make sure that materials scientists have the necessary digital skills. These skills, things like data informatics, machine learning and advanced computer simulation, are not usually covered in depth in undergraduate university courses in science and engineering. So, the Henry Royce Institute, the UK's national institute for advanced materials, in partnership with the National Physical Laboratory, is proposing to set up a Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) that will take at least 70 science and engineering graduates and train them in the techniques of Materials 4.0. These students will work towards PhDs and become leaders in the field of Materials 4.0. They will undertake research projects in universities across the UK (Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds and Strathclyde), tackling a broad range of materials science challenges and developing new approaches in Materials 4.0. The need for these new approaches is widespread, throughout academia and in industry. In recognition of this, the training programme that we develop for the CDT will be made available more widely, in different forms, so that we can disseminate skills in Materials 4.0 to existing researchers in universities and industrial companies as quickly as possible. The training approach of the CDT will be to take our students from "Learners to Leaders" over the course of four years. Our students will be working across boundaries between materials science and computer / data science and between academia and industry. They will build new interfaces and help to develop a common language for communication. To strengthen our students' own learning and to disseminate their skills more widely, we will train our students as trainers so that the students are actively involved in designing and delivering training for fellow researchers and take the role of ambassadors for a cultural shift in materials science to modern ways of working.

The Materials Made Smarter Centre has been co-created by Academia and Industry as a response to the pressing need to revolutionise the way we manufacture and value materials in our economy. The UK's ability to manufacture advanced materials underpins our ambitions to move towards cleaner growth and a more resource efficient economy. Innovation towards a net zero-carbon economy needs new materials with enhanced properties, performance and functionality and new processing technologies, with enhanced manufacturing capability, to make and deliver economic and societal benefit to the UK. However, significant technological challenges must still be overcome before we can benefit fully from the transformative technical and environmental benefits that new materials and manufacturing processes may bring. Our capacity to monitor and control material properties both during manufacture and through into service affect our ability to deliver a tailored and guaranteed performance that is 'right-first-time' and limit capacity to manage materials as assets through their lifetime. This reduces materials to the status of a commodity - a status which is both undeserved and unsustainable. Future materials intensive manufacturing needs to add greater value to the materials we use, be that through reduction of environmental impact, extension of product life or via enhanced functionality. Digitalisation of the materials thread will help to enhance their value by developing the tools and means to certify, monitor and control materials in-process and in-service improving productivity and stimulating new business models. Our vision is to put the UK's materials intensive manufacturing industries at the forefront of the UK's technological advancement and green recovery from the dual impacts of COVID and rapid environmental change. We will develop the advanced digital technologies and tools to enable the verification, validation, certification and traceability of materials manufacturing and work with partners to address the challenges of digital adoption. Digitisation of the materials thread will drive productivity improvements in materials intensive industries, realise new business models and change the way we value and use materials.