Diamond Light Source facility aids engine development

The engine maker was the first to use Diamond’s newest research facility, which was officially opened today. The new facility is capable of creating molecular-scale 3D images of large objects such as aerospace and engineering components and exploring their structure in atomic-scale detail.

Rolls-Royce’s new engine powers the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which first flew in December 2009 and is due to enter service in 2011. The engine maker used Diamond’s research station, an addition to the Joint Engineering, Environmental and Processing (JEEP) beamline, to assess the effectiveness of local surface treatments.

Diamond’s X-rays were used to look at the atomic detail of a large-scale component – a complete engine fan blade measuring approximately 1m in length. The JEEP beamline is the only place in the UK where the internal stresses and strains of components up to two tonnes in weight and beyond 1m in length can be studied with such precision.

Prof David Rugg, material specialist at Rolls-Royce, explained the benefits of the JEEP beamline: ‘The use of advanced materials in safety critical applications requires a high level of understanding and good predictive capability. To this end, improved material characterisation with respect to the evolution of microstructure, crystallographic texture and residual stress is planned by Rolls-Royce. This will be conducted mainly via research programmes with leading academics using the JEEP beamline.