Defence with Royce at the University of Sheffield

Welcome to Royce at the University of Sheffield, one of the leading partners for the UK's national institute for advanced materials research and innovation; The Henry Royce Institute.

Welcome to Royce at the University of Sheffield ...

... a premier destination for defence engineering research and development.

Royce at the University of Sheffield is at the forefront of pioneering technologies that shape the future of defence systems.

Our world-class facilities and collaborative ecosystem provide an ideal environment for businesses in the defence engineering sector to drive innovation, develop cutting-edge materials, and enhance the capabilities of defence technologies.

Working with us means engaging with a dynamic community of researchers, engineers, and industry experts dedicated to advancing defence solutions through interdisciplinary collaboration and state-of-the-art research.

Situated within the prestigious University of Sheffield, we are able to offer a unique opportunity for research and development teams to leverage academic expertise, cutting-edge facilities, and a rich network of collaborators.

Together, we can address the most challenging problems in defence engineering, from materials science to advanced manufacturing, and contribute to the development of resilient and state-of-the-art defence technologies.

Welcome to Royce, where your vision for the future of defence engineering can find the support and resources needed to thrive.

Case Studies

Lowering the Cost of Titanium Armour for Land Based Defence Platforms

Titanium alloys are high strength and low density, making them an ideal material for ballistic protection. Due to prohibitive costs of extraction and processing, their use in this sector has been restricted to weight-critical applications

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Key Personnel

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Dr Nick Weston

Application Scientist (Advanced Metals Processing) | Henry Royce Institute
Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Developing capabilities and understanding limitations of Field Assisted Sintering Technology in order to apply its unique processing capabilities to solve real-world industrial manufacturing problems.

Email address: n.weston@sheffield.ac.uk

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George Maddison

Henry Royce Institute Engineering Lead (Additive Manufacturing)
Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Email address: G.Maddison@sheffield.ac.uk

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Dr Will Pulfrey

Henry Royce Institute Engineering Lead (Thermomechanical Processing)
Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Email address: will.pulfrey@sheffield.ac.uk

Key Equipment

Nigel Adams loads the FAST with a mould filled with titanium swarf

Field Assisted Sintering Technology or Spark Plasma Sintering

Field Assisted Sintering Technology/Spark Plasma Sintering (FAST/SPS) uses a DC electric current to directly heat the mould and/or sample through Joule heating. This direct heating allows high heating rates and low processing cycle times to be achieved. Lower temperatures and mould pressures are also typical compared to conventional hot pressing and sintering techniques.

FAST/SPS offers new possibilities to manufacture numerous materials with potentially extraordinary characteristics. The Type HP D 250/C Furnace is ideal to investigate the scale-up of FAST/SPS for industrial applications.

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Additive Manufacturing

Royce at the University of Sheffield offers a wide range of state-of-the-art additive manufacturing (AM) equipment, hosting open source software with full instrumentation and complete control of the manufacturing process, which are therefore able to optimise for new alloys.

Additive Manufacturing technologies developed through Royce at the University of Sheffield hold the potential to displace existing technologies with reduced material waste and increased part complexity.

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Image from Dr B. A. Rickinson's HIP Case Study — X Ray image of Hot Isostatic Pressed Powder Prototype

Hot and Cold Isostatic Pressing

In powder metallurgy, Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) allows us to compress a volume of metal powder at such high temperatures and pressures, that through a combination of deformation, creep, and diffusion, you actually create a product with an homogenous annealed microstructure (compact solid) with minimal or no impurities in the materials.
Our Cold Isostatic Press (CIP) is used to shape form powders into a green body, prior to sintering. This model allows the pressing of various shapes, including discs, bars, and tubes, and is therefore a near-net-shape process.

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