Digitally enabled development of sustainable metamaterials to create circular alternatives to current unsustainable parts widely used in industry

Manufacturing causes ~20% of global carbon emissions and ~50% of energy use [e.g. 1]. The UK’s third climate change risk assessment [2] suggests the climate crisis has caused irreversible damage. It is critical that we act to limit catastrophic events, by developing viable sustainable manufacturing solutions that can be applied across various sectors. High value products and parts are typically made from unsustainable stock material. Bulk sustainable (biobased or recycled) materials can rarely be substituted into existing parts [3], because; i) those that achieve required properties cannot be sourced and implemented in manufacturing processes at required costs and volumes, ii) sustainable feedstock is variable, meaning part quality cannot be guaranteed.

Our vision is to bring about a step change in the sustainability of mechanical parts, by harnessing metamaterials; engineering appropriate designs using recycled or biobased (natural and synthetic) materials. A metamaterial is a structure (usually composed of engineered elements) arranged to give a response that cannot be achieved with any individual constituent material. They are part of the advanced materials family and are often associated with novel and exotic applications, such as shape morphing or cloaking. While headline catching, these are narrow examples of mainstream potential. The transformative power of metamaterials afforded by engineering the micro/meso-structure, can be harnessed to achieve required functional properties while using sustainable feedstock. This will allow recycled and bio-based materials to become a competitive replacement for less sustainable high performance alternatives. Facilitating this replacement would reduce production of problematic waste, and carbon emissions. At the heart of achieving such a replacement are digital tools creating a systems approach linking base material processing through to part integration.

This project will support this vision by developing metamaterials manufactured from bio-polymers and which have suitable characteristics for use in industrial applications across several sectors, such as automotive and sports equipment. The project will design and implement digital tools that link the design and manufacture of metamaterials, to create a step change in the sustainability of mechanical parts and manufacturing processes. Crucially, it will link multiscale metamaterial design and manufacture to overcome degradation and variation in quality of sustainable feedstock, while meeting geometric part requirements. By using digital technologies in an approach that links industry 4.0 and circular economy concepts, it will be possible to monitor and quantify feedstock properties, then adapt the resulting metamaterial, to better control the manufacturing process. The end result will be prototype metamaterials that can be manufactured to mitigate for the effect of sub-optimal and variable feedstock properties and which meet specific functional requirements for use in industrial products.

Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to contact the project supervisors to discuss your interest in and suitability for the project prior to submitting your application.

[1] https://www.weforum.org/impact/carbon-footprint-manufacturing-industry/

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-publishes-uks-third-climate-change-risk-assessment

[3] Titirici, M., et al., 2022. The sustainable materials roadmap. Journal of Physics: Materials, 5(3), p.032001. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7639/ac4ee5.

Applicant Qualifications:

Candidates with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in mechanical engineering, materials science, manufacturing, control & systems engineering, physics, chemistry, or other related degrees are expected to have a suitable background for this topic of research. As well as fundamental knowledge of physical systems, materials and manufacturing, a successful candidate will also be likely to be able to demonstrate skills and knowledge in digital design and optimisation.

We require applicants to have either an undergraduate honours degree (1st) or MSc (Merit or Distinction) in a relevant science or engineering subject from a reputable institution.