Materials witness

Research into modelling the structure of metals could lead to a method for predicting when naval aircraft are likely to suffer from metal fatigue.

Co-ordinated by researchers at

, the project aims to develop models which will be able to predict how, and where, cracks will develop in critical aircraft parts.

Carrier-borne aircraft have a tough life — landing is closer to a controlled crash than on a tarmac runway — and metal fatigue is a major problem. But according to Anthony Rollett, a materials scientist from

in

, nearly all the previous research on metal fatigue has focused on how cracks propagate through metal components. Hardly any have looked at how they start, he said.

Rollet's research combines examination of metal components with computer modelling, and is based on work carried out by Pittsburgh metals specialist

on forming 3D digital models of crystalline structures.

'Companies like Alcoa have invested huge amounts of effort to try to improve the performance of their materials, especially with respect to fatigue. They tend to do it by trial and error, through making many measurements. but making the detailed connection between what you can measure inside the material and how it behaves and performs is far from simple,' he said.