Thesis subject: Neutron-X-ray Imaging for Defect-Stress Mapping in Laser-Blown-Powder Repaired Aero-Engine Components

You will join the Applied Science Group at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), Grenoble, France and be enrolled at The University of Manchester (UK). ILL operates one of the world’s highest flux research reactors and is an internationally leading facility for neutron science, providing unique capabilities for advanced materials characterisation. The PhD will be conducted at ILL on neutron imaging instruments (NeXT, MoTo, and PorTo) with close interaction with complementary laboratory X-ray imaging facilities at The University of Manchester (UK).

High-value aero-engine components such as blisks operate under extreme thermo-mechanical conditions. Laser-blown-powder (LBP) directed energy deposition is increasingly used to repair such components and extend their service life. However, qualification of repaired metallic components is limited not only by incomplete understanding of internal defect populations (e.g., porosity, lack-of-fusion defects and residual strain), but also by insufficient understanding on how LBP processing parameters generate these defects. In LBP repair, melt pool dynamics, thermal gradients and solidification behaviour are some of many conditions governing microstructural evolution and defect formation, yet the physics linking process conditions to three-dimensional defect distribution in engineering-scale geometries remains underexplored.

The aim of this PhD project is to develop and apply advanced neutron imaging methodologies in order to establish quantitative links between processing conditions, microstructural evolution, residual deformation and defect formation in repaired titanium and nickel-based alloys. The ultimate objective is to generate physics-based insight that supports optimisation and improvement of LBP repair processes.