The Henry Royce Institute at Cranfield
About the Royce Institute at Cranfield University
Cranfield University is an associate partner of the Henry Royce Institute, leading state-of-the-art research in materials and coatings for extreme environments.
Royce at Cranfield is equipped with a range of state-of-the-art facilities and expertise to offer a complete package of expertise on coating systems from conceptual design and manufacture to performance evaluation in extreme environments.
The work we do has a multitude of benefits, including reducing inspection times, increasing component life, better selection of materials/coatings and informing designers for improved design. All of these contribute positively to reducing environmental damage through reduced wastage (increased component life), increasing engine efficiency (burning less fuel) and using more sustainable alloy and coating systems.
Our areas of expertise are divided into two areas:
· Coatings for extreme environments
· Materials performance in extreme environments
Coatings for extreme environments
Our aim is to design and manufacture tailored coating systems (often multiple coating layers) for extreme environments including high temperature oxidation and corrosion, mechanical damage (erosion and wear), hydrogen embrittlement and permeation and specific chemical attack, for example volcanic ash.
We offer a coatings design and manufacture service which includes surface preparation and the interaction between, and evolution of, coating layers. In addition to this we also offer a verification service using our high-end microscopy suite, XRD, and adhesion testing facilities.
Once designed and manufactured, coating systems can be validated using our testing facilities within the Materials Performance for Extreme Environments platform.
For further information on our coatings skills and expertise, please contact:
Dr Luis Isern Arrom
Technology Platform Lead – Coatings for Extreme Environments.
Materials performance in extreme environments
Standard testing is not sufficient to understand how materials operate in real situations. Lack of relevant testing can lead to poor selection of materials systems in engineering environments. This can result in, amongst others, catastrophic failure, increased maintenance, higher material wastage and poor reliability.
Our aim is to develop and execute unique test capabilities to simulate “real-life” extreme engineering scenarios. We are able to:
· perform tensile, fatigue and thermo-mechanical testing at a wide range of temperatures and controlled environments, for example sulphur dioxide and hydrogen.
· offer crack growth monitoring to generate critical lifing data.
· use our bespoke high-temperature c-ring test capability to assess for stress-corrosion cracking and/or hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility.
· assess materials susceptibility to erosion damage at elevated temperatures and wide-ranging velocities.
· assess materials susceptibility to hot corrosion and oxidation in both isothermal and thermal cyclic conditions, in customer specific gaseous environments that simulate “real life” conditions.
For further information on our materials performance in extreme environments skills and expertise, please contact:
Dr Simon Gray
Technology Platform Lead – Materials Performance in Extreme Environments.
How can we help?
Take your idea to the next level using our materials development and testing facilities, plus expert advice, free of charge.
Royce at Cranfield is able to open the door to the UK materials research and innovation community, through the Royce Access Scheme, and the Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP 6) making the facilities and research expertise of our partners available at reduced rates or free of charge to SMEs, academia and students.
If you would like to deposit a new coating, test the performance of a material in demanding environments, or would like to discuss your organisation’s specific requirements, please contact royce@cranfield.ac.uk for more information.
News and events from the Royce at Cranfield
Meet the team: Heshitha Paranavithana our new problem solver
"The problems I was working on started to get more complicated, we needed next generation materials. And that's when I thought I have to properly investigate material characterization, I need to learn a bit more about what goes on at a nano scale."
hydrogen bus and refueller
hydrogen bus and refueller
Addressing gaps in testing standardisation for materials in hydrogen
Workshop
Tuesday 09 June 2026, 9:30am-4:00pm
National Physical Laboratory, Middlesex
What do Apprentice Technicians do?
... And why choose this path? Our apprentice technicians are an essential part of the technical team that keeps world‑leading research moving. Here’s what that looks like.
Emerging materials challenges in 2026
...and the business benefits of working with an application scientist at Royce...
Royce Hydrogen Conference 2025
Dr Robert Sorrell commented, "The quality of the flash talks, poster presentations and speakers today has been inspirational. Events such as this, that bring together experts from across the hydrogen...
Up to £4 million available for industrial research collaboration projects
We are excited to announce the Henry Royce Institute’s Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP) 6 is currently open for applications.
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