Supervisor: Dr Andy Ingram

Rolls-Royce (Derby)

Tax free bursary of £18,800 p.a plus fees

Rolls-Royce is a global provider of complex, integrated power systems and services to the aerospace and marine/industrial power systems markets. This Engineering Doctorate project will evaluate lubricants for Rolls-Royce’s next generation aviation gas turbine products. These gas turbines will provide significant efficiency and environmental benefits over today’s products. The project involves the development of laboratory scale test methods and their subsequent use to assess the tribological performance of gas turbine lubricants. This will allow the assessment of a range commercial and novel candidate lubricant formulations to determine their ability to limit wear in gearbox and bearing locations. Specific areas of research could include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Anti-wear and extreme pressure additives
  • A range of additive chemistries
  • Determination activation temperatures
  • The effect of additive concentration
  • Surface activation with novel gear metallurgies
• Base stock viscosity
  • Friction and wear influence
  • Lubricating film thickness
• The effect of debris/contamination

The candidate would work within the Materials Engineering Fluids Team, based at the Rolls-Royce’s Engineering Headquarters in Derby, UK. The EngD student would have the opportunity to work with Rolls-Royce technical specialists to conduct research which is targeted at increasing the performance of current and future gas turbine products.

To be eligible for EPSRC funding candidates must have at least a 2(1) in an Engineering or Scientific discipline or a 2(2) plus MSc. Please email your c.v. to r.w.greenwood<στο>bham.ac.uk. For more details on the Engineering Doctorate scheme please visit http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/chemical-engineering/postgraduate/eng-d/index.aspx