Cranfield University is buying four pieces of equipment to give its researchers new ways to test materials, batteries, robots, and hardware for space. The equipment fills a gap left by a broken nanoindenter, which measured hardness at the nanoscale, and adds capabilities the university currently lacks. A new nano-mechanical testing platform will let researchers measure the mechanical properties of materials down to the nanometre scale, distinguishing individual grains and phases in a microstructure. An electrochemical impedance spectroscopy test bench will allow rapid evaluation of battery cells during their life cycle, tracking electrochemistry, electrode kinetics, and corrosion. A motion tracking system will capture sub-millimetre movements of robots and autonomous vehicles inside a lunar and planetary exploration test facility. A vacuum chamber will create space-like conditions for testing propulsion systems, electronic components, and heat transfer in radiative-only environments. If successful, these tools will support research across clean energy, autonomous systems, and extreme-environment engineering. They will help develop better batteries, stronger coatings, and more reliable hardware for satellites and planetary rovers. The work is applied, not fundamental science—each piece of equipment directly enables testing and characterisation needed to improve real-world technologies.
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The equipment requested in this grant will provide enhanced underpinning capabilities which will support researchers in a range of research areas across Cranfield and beyond. We propose to purchase four items, three are for new capabilities and one offers replacement for an obsolete platform which will reinstate a capability that has been unavailable to the university for some time. Item 1 - NanoTest Vantage Platform5 We request this nano/micro-mechanical testing platform will allow users developing any new material to measure hardness and mechanical properties down to the ~nm scale, being able to differentiate between different phases and grains in the microstructure. This supersedes our older nanoindenter, which is now broken and obsolete, allowing the whole university to use and maintain a basic but essential tool to develop bulk, coatings and additive manufactured materials. Item 2 - Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) test bench We request items to establish an Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) test bench, which is a critical addition to Cranfield’s current battery cycling and charging/discharging facility. Significantly enhancing our capabilities in battery research, particularly in the areas of thermal management and battery characterisation. EIS, in addition to classical battery testing techniques, allows rapid and accurate evaluation of key battery cell criteria during its life cycle, including electrochemistry, electrode kinetics, double-layers studies, batteries, corrosion, solid-state electrochemistry, bioelectrochemistry, and photovoltaic systems. Item 3 - Motion tracking system We request a motion tracking system that will allow reliable and accurate measurement of the motion of the robotic systems and autonomous vehicles moving within our Lunar & Planetary Robotic Exploration and Exploitation test facility area. This will provide very accurate (sub-millimetre) motion measurements and will enable the further development of collaboration across different Themes (equivalent to Departments) and research groups within the university, particularly in relation to our autonomous vehicle research. Item 4 – Vacuum-chamber We request a vacuum-chamber that will be a fundamental asset for the development of our new Extreme Environment facility. It will allow the generation of vacuum conditions in a sufficiently wide volume to enable numerous applications such as the testing of devices and specimens and propulsion systems for orbital applications. In addition, the vacuum-chamber will be used for assessing the survivability of electronic components and devices in radiative-only heat transfer conditions.
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