PhD Studentship: Tailored Ceramic Matrix Composites for Active Thermal Management in Lightweight Aerospace Structures

Funder: The funding, which has been confirmed (BAE Voucher 250064 IDLA), will come from BAE Systems and the EPSRC IDLA scheme. BAE will monitor progress on a quarterly basis. The PhD funding will last for 4 years.

For the modern material scientist and engineer, advanced technical ceramics provide an invaluable solution to the design of materials for use in extremely challenging, high- and ultra-high temperature environments. However, in order to successfully exploit ceramics for service under these conditions, it is necessary to fabricate thermostructural components from fibre-based ceramic matrix composites (FRCMCs). The latter, particularly continuous fibre-reinforced CMCs, are engineered to overcome the inherent brittleness of monolithic (single phase) ceramics by providing superior strength and toughness.

Nevertheless, there are still many challenges, particularly the high cost of these materials and their manufacture. This currently restricts FRCMCs to a limited number of critical components in applications where material performance is paramount. To addresses these challenges, low-cost manufacturing routes are required, one of which is via the pyrolysis of polymeric precursors. Ceramics obtained by this technique are typically referred to as polymer-derived ceramics (PDCs) and, although their origins can be traced back to the 1970s, recently they have become the subject of a great deal of both academic and commercial interest. Another very popular route is via the use of chemical vapour infiltration, CVI, which also offers low processing temperatures that don’t risk damaging the fibres. Both routes have their advantages and disadvantages, not least of which is to reduce processing times and hence reduce manufacturing costs. 

This EPSRC Industrial Doctoral Landscape Award (IDLA) programme is being funded by BAE Systems as it aligns with a key challenge – to develop structural airframe materials capable of withstanding the high aerothermal heating effects for extended periods for use in hypersonic vehicles. It links into the UK government Hypersonic Technologies & Capability Development Framework (HTCDF) and is in alignment with both the North West Aerospace Alliance objective to enable sustainability, growth and competitiveness in advanced engineering and with the UKRI priority portfolio themes in Manufacturing and the circular economy. It also ties in with a number of objectives from the EPSRC Strategic Delivery Plan in terms of world class careers, ideas and innovation.

Future hypersonic air vehicles need to operate at elevated temperatures for extended periods. However, extended high temperature soak periods will necessitate deployment of additional active and passive thermal protection schemes to mitigate thermal damage to the sub-frame and underlying aircraft systems. This IDLA will develop bespoke graded ceramic and composite hybrids to enable combined cooling via radiation, conduction and convection. This 4-year funded IDLA PhD studentship, to start Oct 2025, will develop novel functionalised CMC components that exhibit graded properties.

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