Mechanical and Aerospace Systems Research Group

PhD Students

Julija Kazakeviciute

Julija Kazakeviciute

PhD: Development of a small ring specimen fatigue testing technique

Supervisors:  Prof Chris Hyde, Prof Davide De Focatiis and Dr James Rouse

Research Summary
My research is being done in order to determine whether small ring specimens can be used to investigate the remaining fatigue life in power plant components. This will be done by modelling the small ring specimen loading using finite elements in order to determine how to apply the load to get results comparable to results from uniaxial testing then testing the small ring specimens to see if the model was correct and the properties can indeed be determined. The first stage of this is investigating whether small ring specimens can be used to determine the tensile properties of materials and how to do that.
 
 
 
William Lavie

William Lavie

PhD: Developing entropy-based metrics to quantify damage in high temperature materials

Supervisors: Dr James Rouse and Dr Chris Hyde

Research Summary
Accurate predictions of material damage enable safe and efficient operation of mechanical installations whilst driving up operating conditions and avoiding component failures. Current damage models for cyclic loading at high temperatures, tend to be empirically based and tailored to specific applications. Generalised models are therefore lacking, in particular for cases where thermo-mechanical loading conditions vary over time. My aim is to develop a criterion for the prediction of damage and failure in materials used in such flexible conditions at temperatures where creep phenomena are active. The criterion will be based on generated entropy estimated using a thermodynamically-based viscoelastic-viscoplastic material model
 
 

Katrina Miller 

Katrina Miller

PhD: Computational and Experimental Investigation into Two Phase Flow in an Aeroengine Bearing Chamber

Supervisors:  Dr Kathy Simmons and Dr Stephen Ambrose

Research Summary

The project aims to enhance and extend two phase modelling capability for aeroengine bearing chambers using experimental work and CFD. The experimental section will collect and analyse data relevant to bearing oil shedding, film behaviour, flow and heat management using a variety of conventional and advanced measurement techniques including high speed imaging and laser methods. Using Fluent, relevant bearing chamber scenarios will be modelled, developing and extending modelling capability where necessary. Comparison of experimental data with computational models will be used for validation.

 
 
 
Kenanao Sithole

Kenanao Sithole

PhD: Development of Coupled FEA & CFD Experimentation & Modelling Techniques for Critical Power Plant Components

Supervisors: Christopher J. Hyde, James P. Rouse, and Richard Jefferson-Loveday

Research Summary
Environmental and legislative pressures have forced thermal power plants to adopt ‘two-shifting’ operating strategies to remain profitable. These strategies pose significant risks on the structural integrity of specific components in the steam path. My research is concerned with developing appropriate constitutive models to accurately measure and predict the deformation of these at-risk components. Elevated operation temperatures (843K) means that rate dependent ‘viscous’ deformation significantly impacts the component response. Constitutive models developed will capture the viscous behaviour. Experimental and modelling (CFD) techniques will be implemented to investigate appropriate thermal boundary conditions.
 
 
 

Lawrie Swinfen-Styles1

Lawrie Swinfen-Styles

PhD: Investigation into an ultra-high efficiency liquid-piston compressor

Supervisors: Prof Seamus Garvey

Research Summary

Gas compression and expansion for the purposes of energy storage must necessarily be very high efficiency. In the case of compressed air energy storage, the round-trip efficiency of the storage cycle is limited to ηc times ηe. If both compression and expansion machines had efficiencies of 90%, then the round-trip efficiency would definitely be below 81%. This project will explore the development of an ultra-high efficiency compressor exploiting liquid-piston technology. The most important loss mechanisms present in an existing design will be identified and a revised design will be put forward that retains the attractions of the original design but achieves higher performance.

 
 
 

 

Mechanical and Aerospace Systems Research Group

Energy Technologies Building
The University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus
Triumph Road, NG7 2TU


telephone: +44 (0)115 74 86398
email:mas@nottingham.ac.uk