Understanding and characterising the behaviour of fluids is fundamental to numerous industrial and environmental challenges with wide-ranging societal impact. The CDT in Fluid Dynamics at Leeds will provide the next generation of highly trained graduates with the technical and professional skills and knowledge needed to tackle such problems. Fluid processes are critical to both economic productivity and the health and environmental systems that affect our daily lives. For example, at the microscale, the flow of liquid through the nozzle of an ink-jet printer controls the quality of the printed product, whilst the flow of a coolant around a microprocessor determines whether or not the components will overheat. At the large scale, the atmospheric conditions of the Earth depend upon the flow of gases in the atmosphere and their interaction with the land and oceans. Understanding these processes allows short term weather forecasting and long term climate prediction; both are crucial for industry, government and society to plan and adapt their environments. Fluid flows, and their interactions with structures, are also important to the performance of an array of processes and products that we take for granted in our everyday lives: gas and water flow to our homes, generation of electricity, fuel efficiency of vehicles, the comfort of our workplaces, the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, and the manufacture of most of the goods that we buy. Understanding, predicting and controlling Fluid Dynamics is key to reducing costs, increasing performance and enhancing the reliability of all of these processes and products. Our CDT draws on the substantial breadth and depth of our Fluid Dynamics research expertise at the University of Leeds. We will deliver an integrated MSc/PhD programme in collaboration with external partners spanning multiple sectors, including energy, transport, environment, manufacturing, consultancy, defence, computing and healthcare, who highlight their need for skilled Fluid Dynamicists. Through a combination of taught courses, team projects, professional skills training, external engagement and an in-depth PhD research project we will develop broad and deep technical expertise plus the team-working and problem-solving skills to tackle challenges in a trans-disciplinary manner. We will recruit and mentor a diverse cohort from a range of science and engineering backgrounds and provide a vibrant and cohesive training environment to facilitate peer-to-peer support. We will build strengths in mathematical modelling, computational simulation and experimental measurement, and through multi-disciplinary projects co-supervised by academics from different Schools, we will enable students to undertake a PhD project that both strengthens and moves them beyond their UG discipline. Our students will be outward facing with opportunities to undertake placements with industry partners or research organisations overseas, to participate in summer schools and study challenges and to lead outreach activities, becoming ambassadors for Fluid Dynamics. Industry and external engagement will be at the heart of the CDT: all MSc team projects will be challenges set and mentored by industry (with placements embedded); each student will have the opportunity for user engagement in their PhD project (from sponsorship, external supervision and access to facilities, to mentoring); and our partners will be actively involved in overseeing our strategic direction, management and professional training. Many components will be provided by or with our partners, including research software engineering, responsible innovation, commercial awareness and leadership.

Many industrial processing operations depend on feed materials that are fine powders with poor handling characteristics, which have to be rectified by granulation to form coarser granules. Generally wet granulation is employed, in which a binder is added to the powder in a mixer usually in batch processes. Continuous Twin Screw Granulation (TSG) has considerable potential, eg in the pharmaceutical sector, because of the flexibility in throughput and equipment design, reproducibility, short residence times, smaller liquid/solid ratios and also the ability to granulate difficult to process formulations. However, there remain significant technical issues that limit its widespread use and a greater understanding of the process is required to meet regulatory requirements. Moreover, encapsulated APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) are of increasing interest and the development of a TSG process that did not damage such encapsulates would significantly extend applications. Experimental optimisation of TSG is expensive and often sub-optimal because of the high costs of APIs and does not lead to a more generic understanding of the process. Computational modelling of the behaviour of individual feed particles during the process will overcome these limitations. The Distinct Element Method (DEM) is the most widely used method but has rarely been applied to the number of particles in a TSG extruder (~ 55 million) and such examples involve simplified interparticle interactions e.g. by assuming that the particles are smooth and spherical and any liquid is present as discrete bridges rather than the greater saturation states associated with granulation. The project will be based on a multiscale strategy to develop advanced interaction laws that are more representative of real systems. The bulk and interfacial properties of a swelling particulate binder such as microcrystalline cellulose will be modelled using Coarse-grained Molecular Dynamics to derive inputs into a meso-scale Finite Discrete Element Method model of formulations that include hard particles and a viscous polymeric binder (hydroxypropylcellulose). Elastic particles (e.g. lactose and encapsulates) with viscous binder formulations will be modelled using the Fast Multi-pole Boundary Element Method. These micro- and meso-scale models will be used to provide closure for a DEM model of TSG. It will involve collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Science, which has pioneered the application of massively parallel high performance computing with GPU clusters to discrete modelling such as DEM, albeit with existing simpler interaction laws. An extensive experimental programme will be deployed to measure physical inputs and validate the models. The screw design and operating conditions of TSG for the formulations considered will be optimised using DEM and the results validated empirically. Optimisation criteria will include the granule size distribution, the quality of tablets for granules produced from the lactose formulation and the minimisation of damage to encapsulates. The primary benefit will be to provide a modelling toolbox for TSG for enabling more rapid and cost-effective optimisation, and allow encapsulated APIs to be processed. Detailed data post-processing will elucidate mechanistic information that will be used to develop regime performance maps. The multiscale modelling will have applications to a wide range of multiphase systems as exemplified by a large fraction of consumer products, catalyst pastes for extrusion processes, and agriculture products such as pesticides. The micro- and mesoscopic methods have generic applications for studying the bulk and interfacial behaviour of hard and soft particles and also droplets in emulsions. The combination of advanced modelling and implementation on massively parallel high performance GPU clusters will allow unprecedented applications to multiphase systems of enormous complexity.

The aim of the centre is to train research engineers with skills and expertise at the forefront of knowledge in machining science. Machining is at the heart of almost all manufacturing processes, ranging from the milling and turning processes used to create parts for the air-craft engines that power the planes we travel on, through to the grinding processes used to shape replacement hip-joints. As we demand more from engineered components, and move to materials such as composites or high strength alloys, their intrinsic strength or complexity as materials makes them harder to machine. This frequently means that machining processes are slower, require more manual interventions, and produce more out of tolerance parts: all these factors result in higher costs. Research into machining science can make a tangible difference to the way in which modern engineering components are produced. For example, recent machining research by the AMRC will be used at Rolls-Royce's new 20,000 square metre factory in Tyne & Wear. This factory will employ over 400 people and make over 2000 engine components per year, for aircraft including the Boeing 786 Dreamliner and the Airbus A380 [1]. Our doctoral training centre will equip research engineers with the skills and expertise that places them at the forefront of machining science. Cohorts of doctoral researchers will each work on an industrially posed machining problem. They will aim to bridge the gap between industry and academia, as they will first research areas of appropriate machining science, before transferring this technology to their sponsor company. Research and training will take place within a collaborative environment, with research engineers based in the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) in Sheffield, where they will be mentored by academics working at the forefront of machining science, and will have access to some of the latest equipment available. Industrial participation is central to our training vision, where in addition to working on an industrially proposed problem, each research engineer will be co- funded and supervised by industry. We see this interaction as essential to ensure the research and training we provide is timely, and addresses the key challenges posed by UK industry. [1] Rolls-Royce press release, Friday, 21 September 2012. "Rolls-Royce breaks ground for new facility in North East"

The proposed Industrial Doctorate Centre aims to provide Research Engineers (Engineering Doctorates) with skills and expertise at the forefront of knowledge in machining science. These individuals will enable UK industry to develop and maintain a world-leading capability in high value manufacturing sectors that involve machining processes. Furthermore the unique training experience that is provided will enable the Research Engineers to foster a stronger collaboration between the UK's fundamental engineering science research, and the manufacturing engineering community.Machining, in particular metal removal processes, are sometimes perceived as a 'traditional' manufacturing process that have been evolving for many decades and rely upon mature technology. However, this view is short-sighted as it fails to consider the significant developments in engineering science that have taken place over the past few decades and the impact that they can make to step-changes in machining performance. In almost every sphere of engineering science - from nonlinear dynamics to electrical machines and tribology - there are recent significant developments that are of direct relevance to machining applications, which could contribute further step changes in productivity and profitability. A failure to successfully translate these technology developments into machining applications would hinder the future competitiveness of the UK manufacturing sector.The proposed IDC will address this central vision by combining the world class research in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield, with the well proven and unique industry-facing activities at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing (AMRC). The expertise of the proposal investigators who form the supervisory pool for the IDC can be applied to a wide spectrum of research problems in the field of machining science. Examples include: Machine tool designCutting tool geometryTool and work-piece characterisationStandard features machiningAdaptive control of cutting processesMetal cutting tribologyCoatings technologyMachine and machining dynamicsWork-holding dynamicsElectrical machines and drivesMachine visionStress analysis of machining Fluid mechanics of coolantsDigital control systems The core engineering science behind these machining-focussed issues (tribology, dynamics, experimental mechanics, control) are all areas where the faculty of engineering has demonstrated world leading or internationally excellent research activity. Meanwhile, the AMRC's track record for industrial collaboration allows this research to be tailored and applied to the needs of manufacturing industry. An IDC provides a unique opportunity for the University of Sheffield to offer industrially-focussed research training at an Engineering Doctorate level. In particular, the IDC will have, from its outset, the most comprehensive network of companies involved in all aspects of machining worldwide via the existing AMRC membership.The proposed IDC complements existing UK training centres, where there is no existing capability that specifically focuses on training manufacturing engineers on advanced aspects of machining. The IDC would align fully with the University's strategic aim to foster research collaborations across the Engineering disciplines, following the recent implementation of a Faculty based management system.

The application of laser assisted machining/processing has shown promise in reducing tool wear in the machining of difficult-to-machine aerospace materials, such as, metal matrix composites (MMCs). On the other hand, ultrasonically assisted machining has been successfully used to demonstrate essential reductions in cutting forces with an improvement of machined surface quality. This project is a fundamental research programme that aims to comprehensively study the two techniques in combination with a clear route to implementation. Through the transition to hybrid-hybrid manufacturing processes such as the one proposed, UK industries will be able to meet the growing needs of present and future sectors/customers by efficient and sustainable resource usage in the manufacture of future aerospace materials. The research will focus on the influence of the thermal field-ultrasonic vibrations-mechanical deformation on the MMC material taking into consideration the initial underlying micro-structure of the material. Special attention will be paid to dynamic recrystallization and grain growth of the metallic matrix material due to the influence of the imposed thermal field and deformation-rates (due to machining). In parallel, a laser-ultrasonically assisted machining system will be designed, developed and installed on an existing CNC machine, with the aim of cutting without coolants, using less force and machining-induced damage. Machining studies will be conducted at industrially relevant machining conditions. Comparisons will be drawn with current practice for best machining outcomes. It is expected that the new hybrid-hybrid manufacture will lead to less machining forces with reduced tool wear and post machining (tensile) residual stresses. Finally, several case studies will be conducted with the aim of developing next generation tools for optimal manufacture.