Fast Step 3 has ended
watch the video about what the project has achieved
A consortium including the Northern Automotive Alliance (NAA) has been successful in obtaining government funding from Innovate UK for a collaborative research project to use titanium in automotive engines. The aims of the FAST STEP 3 project are to:
Achieve lightweighting for automotive engines in order to lower emissions including CO2, NOx and particulate matter, initially at low volume, potentially moving into higher volume applications when there is increasing confidence with the product and manufacturing processes.
Provide growth opportunities for the supply chain, not only within the automotive sector, but also in the wider advanced manufacturing sectors of offshore, rail, aerospace, non-automotive engines and defence.
Enable the metal-forming industry to stay abreast of new technology in alternative metals and use world-leading materials research to assist in halting the decline of the industry within the UK.
High value alloyed titanium swarf will be used as a feedstock for the novel hybrid technology of Field Assisted Sintering Technology followed by one-step hot forging – known as the FASTforge process – into near net shapes for use in the high strength and good fatigue life applications typically required within an automotive engine.
FAST STEP 3 is the first project that will develop a UK supply chain for the material.
FAST STEP 3 involves three processes to produce components. Firstly, the FAST process uses titanium swarf to produce a shaped consolidated pre-forged billet. Secondly, a hot forging process produces a near net shape with high strength. Thirdly, final machining produces a component that is net shape and engine-ready. The process will produce titanium at 20% of the cost of current titanium billet, and with minimal waste compared to the 70% waste typically generated from current processes.
The project will manufacture and functionally bench test four components of increasing complexity from both a manufacturing and performance perspective.
The FAST STEP 3 consortium is comprised of Bentley Motors, Force Technology Ltd, the Northern Automotive Alliance, The University of Sheffield, Transition International and W.H. Tildesley.
