Engineers and physicists are teaming up with 14 major industrial companies to find hidden cracks and flaws in critical infrastructure before they cause failures. Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) is the science of inspecting materials and structures without taking them apart or damaging them. Current methods often require shutting down equipment—power plants, pipelines, aircraft—to check for defects, which costs time and money. The centre will tackle three specific problems: measuring the exact size of a detected flaw (so engineers know whether it is dangerous or harmless), developing sensors that stay permanently installed and monitor continuously, and importing new technology from other fields to make NDE instruments more capable. If the research succeeds, power stations, oil rigs, and aircraft could be inspected more quickly and accurately, with less downtime. Permanently installed monitoring could catch developing problems early, reducing the risk of catastrophic failures. Over half the research costs come from industry, indicating that companies see a direct route to safer, more competitive operations. The centre’s work spans from high-risk fundamental studies to short-term projects with small firms, but the ultimate goal is practical: better safety, environmental protection, and economic security for the UK.
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The prime aim of the Centre is to do world-class research in NDE and related fields. The Centre is a collaboration between six universities and 14 (in 07-08)large, end-user companies plus a number of smaller, associate members. The membership includes expertise in mechanical and electronic engineering, physics and materials, so recognising the interdisciplinary nature of NDE. The Centre will have a wide portfolio of activities from longer term, higher risk adventurous research, through medium term application research and development to short term practical projects and technology transfer activities with SMEs and other exploiters of new products. The EPSRC funds that are the main subject of this proposal will support longer term, adventurous research in three key priority areas: defect sizing to improve structural integrity assessments, permanently installed monitoring systems to reduce the down-time associated with inspection, and exploiting advances made in other areas to introduce innovative technology to improve the quality of NDE instrumentation. Over 50% of the cost of the research will be met by industrial contributions. The purpose of all the research, whether shorter or longer term, will be to benefit the nation in terms of quality of life, through improved safety, environmental protection and economic security. The Centre will do this by assisting UK companies to improve (a) their competitiveness and (b) their ability to meet the public's requirements for safe and secure operation.
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