Advanced materials for fission and fusion energy: Nanostructured alloys, bcc-superalloys and high entropy alloys

Wall Forum

Datum: 06.02.2024
Uhrzeit: 13:30 - 14:30
Vortragender: Alexander Knowles
School of Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham, UK
Ort: Seminarraum D3 / Zoom
Gastgeber: IPP

Energy applications from gas turbines to nuclear reactors demand increased operation temperatures for improved efficiencies and performance, alongside supporting deep-decarbonization & hydrogen generation. Advances in materials capability are a key enabling technology for the next-generation low-carbon energy applications needed to address the climate emergency. Metals reinforced by ordered intermetallic precipitates form a potent strategy for the development of high temperature strength alongside damage tolerance, which is central to the success of state-of the-art fcc nickel-based superalloys. Such a strategy is equally of interest within bcc systems, such as W, Ti or Fe, to access increased melting point and low cost/density. However, despite their promise, refractory metal ‘bcc-superalloys’ are yet to be commercialised. Here successes, challenges and opportunities for the nascent materials class of bcc-superalloys will be discussed, including titanium- and tungsten-based [1, 2]. Further, strategies for nanostructured alloys and high entropy alloys (HEAs) [3] will be introduced, with a focus on the ability for nano-scale interfaces to act as sinks for irradiation damage. [1] – http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2017.06.038 [2] – https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmt.2021.101014 [3] – https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2019.01.006

Sandy Knowles is an Associate Professor in Nuclear Materials, Royal Academy of Engineering Associate Research Fellow & UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, in the School of Metallurgy & Materials, University of Birmingham UK, as well being a Visiting Fellow at UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).

Sandy started his career with a 4-year MEng in Materials Science from the University of Oxford 2011, with masters research on aluminium metal-matrix-composites. He turn-coated to a PhD at the University of Cambridge 2011-2015, on ‘Novel refractory metal alloys’ linked with Rolls-Royce plc. Then moving to Imperial College London, he postdoc’d 2015-16 on Ti alloys, then received an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship 2016-17 to develop his ‘bcc Ti-superalloys’. From 2017-19 he held a EUROfusion Researcher Grant to investigate nanostructured tungsten alloys for fusion, held between Imperial, UoB and UKAEA.

Sandy started as a lecturer at University of Birmingham in 2018 and was awarded both a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow and a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, to further develop his bcc superalloys concept, alongside EU H2020 & EPSRC grants. He now leads a 15-person research group, focused on novel nano-structured alloys for Extreme Environments: nuclear fusion, Gen-IV fission, gas turbines and thermal-solar. He has close industrial partnerships with UKAEA/CCFE, NNL, TIMET and Rolls Royce and a wide international academic network. He is a TMS Refractory Metals Committee member and co-organiser of the TMS 2022 RM Symposia, 2024 BCC Superalloy Workshop 8-9^th Feb, TMS 2025 Advances in Bcc-Superalloys, and Chair for 2026 Beyond Nickel-Based Superalloys V.