DPhil in Engineering Science Industrial Doctoral Landscape Award (IDLA) in Gas Turbine Heat Management.

About the Project

Research Studentship in Aircraft Propulsion

4 year D.Phil. studentship

Project: DPhil in Engineering Science Industrial Doctoral Landscape Award (IDLA) in Gas Turbine Heat Management.

Supervisors: Prof Peter Ireland

Future aircraft engines will maximize fuel efficiency by including new, fluid flow and cooling systems into advanced turbofan configurations. This doctorate will research highly innovative technologies that carefully control the temperature of key engine components. The Oxford Thermofluids Institute at the University of Oxford has world leading expertise in flow and temperature control and cooling technologies. The research will study systems and components that will minimize any thermodynamic penalties of the effective cooling systems. For example, cooled cooling air offers the opportunity to improve the fuel efficiency of future ultraefficient engines which are a vital component of the UK's strategy to achieve net zero aviation. This project will explore the science of novel cooling technologies, such as phase change materials and heat transfer enhancement, for the air systems used to condition the turbine cooling air. The aerospace requirements for accurate steady and transient thermal control in challenging operating temperature and vibration rich environments drives the need for bespoke, innovative low mass thermal management systems.