Metals Processing

About Metals Processing

Royce at the University of Sheffield combines computational material design, high-throughput materials discovery, rapid scale-up, and material property screening, to deliver a step-change in the manner novel materials are developed for specific applications. Our capabilities support the key technical challenge of innovating processes to efficiently fabricate and test material libraries, whilst simultaneously capturing sufficient information which can be shared with manufacturers to enable rapid deployment to occur. 

Additive Manufacturing technologies developed through Royce at the University of Sheffield hold the potential to displace existing technologies with reduced material waste and increased part complexity.

Melt Spinner casts a thin ribbon of rapidly quenched amorphous material in 100g batches, and is suitable for Al, Fe, Ni, and Cu alloys. 

In powder metallurgy, HIP allows us to compress a volume of metal powder at such high temperatures and pressures, that through a combination of deformation, creep, and diffusion, you actually create a product with an homogenous annealed microstructure (compact solid) with minimal or no impurities in the materials. Meanwhile our research CIP is used to shape form powders into a green body, prior to sintering. This model allows the pressing of various shapes, including discs, bars, and tubes, and is therefore a near-net-shape process. 

Field Assisted Sintering Technology/Spark Plasma Sintering (FAST/SPS) uses a DC electric current to directly heat the mould and/or sample through Joule heating. This direct heating allows high heating rates and low processing cycle times to be achieved. Lower temperatures and mould pressures are also typical compared to conventional hot pressing and sintering techniques. FAST/SPS offers new possibilities to manufacture numerous materials with potentially extraordinary characteristics.

The Fenn Hot Rolling Mill is a two-high, 136 tonne, Hot Rolling Mill has been designed specifically for the University of Sheffield to roll steels, titanium alloys, and nickel-based alloys from a maximum starting thickness of 80mm to a finished thickness of 3mm. 

Former wastes, such as powder from near-net-shape production or swarf from machined components, can be converted to useful wire using the Conform extruder.

These processes offer new, unique pathways in the processing of novel alloys, or valorisation of waste streams for new recycling and sustainability models in metal manufacturing.

Key Equipment

Key Case Studies

Using 'Waste' Powders to Create Parts for Lightweight Vehicles

Enquiries

All enquiries regarding access can be made via email to royce@sheffield.ac.uk

Further information about Equipment Access Schemes and Subsidies can be found here.