MSc Advanced Materials

After graduating in engineering from the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, I worked for an NGO in India before joining the Advanced Materials MSc course as a full-time student.

My project is concerned with the relationship between the flexural modulus of a new type of composite material (based on a 3D woven fabric) and damage development within the composite when it is overloaded. Interestingly, although there has been much work around the world on the in-plane properties of composite materials, there hasn’t been as much work on their bending behaviour.

The material that I am studying is a new type of fabric reinforcement which has tows of fibres woven in three dimensions – a 3D weave. The material has been specially made for my project by an American company which specialises in novel fabrics for composite materials.

At this point in my project, I have done a literature review and begun the experimental work by manufacturing some composite specimens and carrying out my first flexure experiments. In the next stage, I will monitor the damage development in the 3D woven fabric composite as the load is increased and then try to model the experimental results (with the help of existing models on 2D fabric composites in the literature).

If all goes to plan, after writing my dissertation, I hope it will be possible to see my work published in a relevant journal.

Typically, the entire programme will be made up of 210 contact hours and 1,590 hours of self-study.
Each module carries 15 credits. The project carries 60 credits. The MSc degree is awarded on the attainment of 180 credits, the Postgraduate Diploma at 120 credits and the Postgraduate Certificate at 60 credits.

Credits are obtained from short-course modules or guided studies (and accompanying written assessments), and from projects or independent studies.

We aim to provide you with a broad knowledge of the properties, manufacture, selection, characterisation, design, usage and economics of materials in science and engineering applications. We will equip you with a thorough understanding of the major classes of advanced materials and the means by which they are selected, characterised and utilised.

The Advanced Materials MSc is accredited by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IoM3) and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). Students completing this MSc programme will have fulfilled the master’s-level requirements for Chartered Engineer (CEng) status awarded through either of these institutions.

Each module corresponds to 150 hours of work, which includes about 30 hours of lectures/tutorial/practical classes within a one-week short course.

Short courses are the main building blocks of this MSc programme. Each short course has its own assessment package which requires an in-depth study of the material of the module (including use of available research literature, when appropriate). It is expected that 120 hours of study is required to answer the questions within the assessment package.

Full-time students undertake their projects within the Faculty laboratories. For part-time students, the project is normally undertaken in the student’s place of work. However, this can also be carried out, by arrangement, in the Faculty laboratories. An independent study module may be taken by part-time students who are unable to undertake a project. The independent study consists of a 10,000-word dissertation on a materials topic of current interest.

A number of the short courses run in alternate years and therefore are not all available to full-time students who attend for twelve months. Such students have the possibility of selecting two of these short courses to take as guided study modules. If a student selects a guided study module, the student is given the notes from the course when it was last run and a series of tutorials. Guided studies are only available for part-time students in exceptional circumstances.

When the assessment package for a module has been marked, the mark is given, subject to confirmation by the statutory University bodies. The official awarding of credits is made subsequently by the appropriate University body with information from the MSc Board of Examiners.

The credit system is in line with that initiated by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA). The intention is that credits are transferable between institutions using the Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS).

The laboratories employed for teaching on the MSc programme are well equipped and maintained. The facilities span the activities of fabrication, characterisation, testing, design and modelling. Some of these laboratories are used for practical classes and demonstrations during the modules, and all of the laboratories are available for student project work.

With regard to materials fabrication and thermal processing, standard facilities for the manufacture of polymer matrix composites, bulk ceramics and metals are utilised.

For materials characterisation, we are particularly well equipped. We are home to Europe’s largest surface analysis laboratory, including small-area XPS, time-of-flight SIMS, Auger microscopy and scanning probe microscopy instrumentation, and an electron microscopy facility comprising five electron microscopes, plus associated analytical techniques.

Other facilities include: XRD, optical microscopy, particle-size analysis, thermal analysis (DSC, TGA), non-destructive analytical techniques (acoustic emission, X-radiography, ultrasonics) and dilatometry.

For mechanical testing, the facilities include a full range of quasi-static and fatigue testing instruments, which have recently been upgraded with state-of-the-art software, and standard and micro-hardness testing machines. Design and modelling activities primarily employ the finite element analysis software ANSYS and ABAQUS, and this is installed on the Faculty’s dedicated computing suite.

The Advanced Materials MSc programme has been running successfully for over 20 years and the programme structure and content is strongly influenced by the requirements of UK industry.

One of the two external examiners for the MSc programme is an industrialist, and over 25 lectures on the programme are given by industrial experts. Part-time MSc students registered on the programme have been, or are, employed by international companies such as Intel, Airbus, Dow Corning, Corus, Ford, Imerys, Grundfos, Chemineer and Goodrich.

Our students also come from UK-based SMEs and large UK companies and institutions, such as QinetiQ, the National Physical Laboratory and Dstl.