Full funded EngD: Interrogation of the Manufacturing Route of Aluminium Alloy for Lithographic Application

School of Materials

University of Manchester

The studentship is available to UK students and will cover tuition fees and a maintenance award of £17,600 per annum.

Candidates for the Research Engineer should have an excellent background in materials science and engineering, knowledge of electrochemical engineering and the necessary computational and organizational skills.
Assisted by the School and industrial infrastructure, the individual will produce a project plan with associated milestones and deliverables (progress reports). Unexpected challenges or the early consideration of new directions will be discussed rapidly in team meetings arranged by the Research Engineer.

General information
This is a doctoral level collaborative project led by an academic supervisor and an industrial company. The project is defined by the company and academic together and addresses a key problem/opportunity for the business. Unlike a conventional PhD, the researcher receives integrated training in Management subjects and undertakes a comprehensive professional/personal skills development programme.

The brief description of the project
AA 1050 aluminium alloy provides the support for most offset litho-plates. The alloy is fabricated from cast material by hot and cold rolling to a gauge thickness of 0.3 mm. For the final sheet, three parameters are of paramount importance. The first and second involve surface quality and retained strength that are necessary for final litho-plate production, particularly after baking at temperatures up to 280o C. The third parameter is the ability to generate a fully convoluted surface by controlled pitting over a relatively short time of less than 15 s. Uniquely this project aims to examine the inter-relationship between the previous three parameters, thereby examining the interplay between microstructure, strength and subsequent processing. A further key aspect is feedback into the thermomechanical processing of the AA 1050 alloy to ensure ready, cost effective fabrication for sustained alloy properties and performance.
The objectives are challenging and ambitious, and require interdisciplinary skills, including metallurgy, materials processing, manufacture and electrochemical engineering. Additionally, there is a strong interaction between strategic work and industrial application, providing the necessary challenge to satisfy the requirements of the Engineering Doctorate.