Machine Shop
Research Highlights
Hydrous silicate melts and the deep mantle H2O cycle
In situ observation of nanolite growth in volcanic melt: A driving force for explosive eruptions
The fate of carbonate in oceanic crust subducted into earth’s lower mantle
Structural Ordering in Liquid Gallium under Extreme Conditions
Slab melting as a barrier to deep carbon subduction
Generation of porphyry copper deposits by gas–brine reaction in volcanic arcs
Frequency and magnitude of volcanic eruptions controlled by magma injection and buoyancy
Linking Petrology and Seismology at an Active Volcano
Petrology Group members involved in €3.5m project to study processes behind volcanic unrest
Deep Mantle Cycling of Oceanic Crust: Evidence from Diamonds and their Mineral Inclusions
Petrology Group member Jon Blundy wins Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award
Primary carbonatite melt from deeply subducted oceanic crust
Petrology Group member Jon Blundy elected to Fellow of the Royal Society
The School’s machine shop is co-located with the Petrology Group laboratories and is a vital resource for the design, manufacture and maintenance of our cutting-edge experimental facilities.
The School’s machine shop is co-located with the Petrology Group laboratories and is a vital resource for the design, manufacture and maintenance of our cutting-edge experimental facilities.
The machine shop is staffed with two highly skilled machinists and includes an array of equipment, including lathes large enough to turn the rams on our multi-anvil presses, band saws, pillar drills, CNC milling machines, welders and hand tools. The facility also houses a dedicated lathe for turning ceramic parts for multi-anvil experiments. The staff in the machine shop help to troubleshoot and maintain our equipment as well as helping to design new kit.
In 2022, a new CNC milling machine was installed. The Ajax Machine Tools AJPR350 is fully programmable, has a 1 micron resolution in all three dimensions and a spindle capable of 24,000 rpm so that it can machine all materials, including very hard ceramics. The rationale behind this machine is to dramatically speed up the production of parts for multi-anvil press assemblies to increase experimental reproducibility while also reducing the failure rate.
Also in 2022, a Prusa Research i3 MK3S+ 3-D printer was installed in the Petrology Group labs. The printer has a build volume of 25 x 21 x 21 cm, a 0.4 mm diameter nozzle and can print objects that contain up to five different materials (including different colours). The printer is primarily used for prototyping new equipment for the labs before final manufacturing in more expensive materials, making items for the lab for which plastic is an acceptable material and creating a variety of teaching aids (geological cross-sections, topographic maps, fossils, crystal structures and more).
The machine shop
The new AJPR350 CNC milling machine
The new Prusa Research i3 MK3S+ 3-D printer
Example 3-D printed parts