Industrial centre gets Horizon 2020 funds for alloy research

The UK’s Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) has announced it has secured funding from Horizon 2020 to develop new ways of working with the advanced alloy gamma titanium aluminide.

The project, entitled ‘MMTech’, will study gamma titanium aluminide. The alloy is of particular interest to the aerospace sector due to the fact that it is both significantly strong, but also lightweight at the same time. The alloy is presently very difficult to use in production.

The project is led by the University of Sheffield AMRC and will use funding provided by the European Commission. The Nuclear AMRC will investigate and develop additive manufacturing techniques for the alloy, using its 15kW diode laser cell and other facilities. The AMRC is expected to receive the funding from Brussels following due diligence.

The Nuclear AMRC was formed in 2009 after the University of Sheffield and the University of Manchester were selected to lead the centre following a competitive process. Rolls-Royce was also chosen as the lead industrial partner for the hub, which also includes the participation of Areva, Westinghouse, Sheffield Forgemasters and Tata Steel. The project initially received funding from the UK Government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the now defunct regional development agency, and the European Regional Development Fund.