Closing Date: 17th February 2023
Project start date: 1st October 2023
Funding Provider: UKRI EPSRC CDT Studentship
Subject Area: Functional Coatings
Key Information
Project Supervisors
Academic Supervisors:
Industry Supervisors:
Aligned programme of study: EngD in Materials, Modelling and Manufacturing
Mode of study: Full-time
Expected Interview Date: March – April 2023
Background
LSN Diffusion is a manufacturer of a gas and water atomised alloy powders. Formed in 2012, LSN Diffusion is based in South Wales and supplies products to the UK and for export to Europe, USA and Asia. It’s product range covers international standard alloy powders and bespoke alloy powders for niche applications across a range of sectors. LSN combines is considerable experience of powder atomisation with its suite of purposed designed and constructed atomizing systems to adapt and meet a customer’s often unique chemical and particulate requirements. LSN Diffusion holds a range of international certifications including accreditation to BS EN ISO 9001:2015, BS EN ISO 14001:2015 and Rolls Royce SABRe and GS3001.
As LSN Diffusion enters its second decade of operations, potential development opportunities have been recognised in a number of key areas, including automotive, additive manufacturing and energy sectors. Advancement in these fields will require LSN Diffusion to enhance its R&D investment and profile.
Project Aims:
The European Commission upcoming Euro 7 emissions standards legislate to ensure that emissions standards for vehicles are extended beyond exhaust emissions and will therefore set limits to particulate emissions from components such as brakes discs. It should be noted that this will apply to all vehicles including electric vehicles and thus will endure beyond the lifetime of current petrol/diesel designs.
Against this background, the proposed projects will investigate the development of environmentally-friendly powder alloy coatings for brake disc components and their application by high efficiency laser techniques. This has the wide-ranging potential to reduce particulate emissions from brake components in line with Euro 7 legislation.
A project outline for the proposed programme consists of the following components.
An initial review of the current legislation and technical advances combined with engagement with LSN’s industrial partners will identify the potential alloy systems required to deliver a low particulate brake wear solution.
To meet the required coating/component performance, alloy systems will be developed, and subsequent powder batches produced using small-scale laboratory atomisation, followed by scaling to full-scale close-coupled gas/water atomisation in LSN’s facility.
Once potential powder alloys have been identified and produced, brake component will be fabricated either as a laser-deposited coating onto an existing brake substrate and/or as a high-build additive layer component of a bespoke design.
Once a successful process/design has been delivered, wear performance of the coating in terms of component life and particulate emission will be assessed using laboratory-based techniques to quantify and rank coating performance.
Working locations:
The student will be based at Swansea University but will be expected to spend time with the sponsoring company on a regular basis, as required.
Sponsor Company:
COATED M2A:
COATED M2A recognises applicants have a variety of backgrounds with different educational and research experiences. We do not expect applicants to be proficient users of any techniques/equipment mentioned, at the time of application. Our focus is to upskill our participants and training will be provided.
COATED M2A in the Faculty of Science and Engineering is a Swansea University initiative which provides postgraduate research training in partnership with industry, providing access to world class laboratories and a wealth of academic and industry expertise. COATED M2A is committed to providing top quality research opportunities within an inclusive environment, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Swansea University and Industry partners.
Interwoven through the research study are business, technical and entrepreneurial courses, designed to support and prepare participants for a senior role in industry or academia, on completion of their studies.
The Athena SWAN charter recognises work undertaken by institutions to advance gender equality. The College of Engineering is an Athena SWAN silver award holder and is committed to addressing unequal gender representation. Applications from women and other under-represented groups are particularly welcomed.
All applications will be anonymised prior to short listing.
Are you considering making an application and have questions you’d like answered? Come and have a 1-2-1 chat with us at our applicant surgeries (Link). We encourage all applicants to review our ‘hints and tips’ document found here.
Eligibility
Candidates must normally hold at minimum (or expect to obtain by the start date) an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level (or Non-UK equivalent as defined by Swansea University), or a combination of degree and equivalent experience to the same level.
NB: If you are holding a non-UK degree, please see Swansea University degree comparisons to find out if you meet the eligibility.
English Language requirements: If applicable – IELTS 6.5 overall (with at least 6.0 in each individual component) or Swansea recognised equivalent. Details on the Swansea University English Language entry policy can be found here.
Studentships for October 2023 entry are open to candidates of any nationality; however, please note:
- International students (including EU countries) can apply, but due to UKRI funding rules, no more than 30% of the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Functional Industrial Coatings projects can be allocated to international students. Once the cap is reached, studentships will only be open to applicants eligible for tuition fees at the UK rate, as defined by UKCISA regulations.
- Further details about eligibility, including information about the ‘international cap’ can be found at: Eligibility (identifying if you are a home or international student) – UKRI.
If you have any questions regarding your academic or fee eligibility based on the above, please email pgrscholarships@swansea.ac.uk with the web-link to the studentship(s) you are interested in.
Funding
This studentship covers a full award and includes a tax-free stipend (currently £22,000 per annum) and tuition fees, each for a period of four years, subject to meeting University progression requirements.
Also, a generous budget is available to support training, project costs, industry placements and travel to enable you to network and showcase your research at an international conference.
How to Apply
To apply, please complete your application online with the following information:
1. Course choice (section 1) – for administrative purposes only, please select PhD Materials Engineering and your application will be considered for the Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Materials, Modelling and Manufacturing programme.
In the event you have already applied for the above programme previously, the application system may issue a warning notice and prevent application, in this event, please email pgrscholarships@swansea.ac.uk where staff will be happy to assist you in submitting your application.
2. Start year (section 1) – please select 2023
3. Personal Statement (section 6) – select ‘Add Personal Statement Text’ and set out your skills and experience and the relevance of these to the project within the text box provided. Please refer to the ‘hints and tips’ guide for details of how to structure your personal statement. Shortlisting decisions will be made on information supplied in section 6 of Apply only. Please do not attach a cover letter as it will not be considered.
4. Funding (section 8) –
- ‘Are you funding your studies yourself?’ – please select No
- ‘Name of Individual or organisation providing funds for study’ – please enter ‘RS261 – Emissions’
*It is the responsibility of the applicant to list the above information accurately when applying, please note that applications received without the above information listed will not be considered for the studentship award.
One application is required per individual Swansea University led research scholarship award; applications cannot be considered listing multiple Swansea University led research scholarship awards.
As part of your online application, you MUST upload the following documents (please do not send these via email):
- Degree certificates and transcripts (if you are currently studying for a degree, screenshots of your grades to date/interim transcripts are sufficient)
- Two references (academic or previous employer) on headed paper or using the Swansea University reference form. Please note that we are not able to accept references received citing private email accounts, e.g. Hotmail. Referees should cite their employment email address for verification of reference.
- Evidence of meeting English Language requirement (if applicable).
- Copy of UK resident visa (if applicable).
Furthermore, we invite you to complete the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Monitoring Form (online form). Data is solely collected for statistical purposes and is not viewed by those that shortlist.
Informal enquiries are welcome, please contact M2A@swansea.ac.uk.
*External Partner Application Data Sharing – Please note that as part of the studentship application selection process, application data sharing may occur with external partners outside of the University, when joint/co- funding of a studentship project is applicable.