Public Funding for TWI Limited

Awaiting Public Project Summary

Precipitation-hardened nickel super alloy fasteners and bolts are crucial components in a wide range of areas that requires high strength in demanding and corrosive environments, for example aerospace, nuclear power stations, wind turbines, offshore oil & gas, and shipping. They are often exposed to hydrogen created by cathodic protection systems or by coupling to incompatible dissimilar alloys, which leads to hydrogen embrittlement (HE). The current state-of-the-art production is either forging or machining. With forged bolts, the forging process can drastically reduce the HE resistance, which has been the root cause for several recent unexpected costly and dangerous failures. While machined bolts can overcome this, they are often prohibitively expensive and also inefficient (material usage, energy). In this project we will use Linear Friction Welding (LFW) combined with advanced computational simulations & optimizations as well as experiments & data analysis to develop an innovative and much more efficient manufacturing method. Compared to machined fasteners and bolts, we expect significant materials savings, increased productivity, and significantly reduced energy consumption, which together will lead to much lower total costs. In this project, we will gain crucial insights on a new efficient manufacturing method, its tooling, and advanced simulation & optimization, which will lead to a step change in competitiveness for the partners.

"Nuclear plants are valuable, high capital costs assets with longer operating lifetimes delivering reliable base electricity load to the grid. It is recognised by nuclear operators, national regulatory bodies, and organisations such as the IAEA, that in order to maintain optimal safety and economic viability, application of advanced Surveillance, Diagnostics and Prognostic (SDP) technologies will be required, particularly as plant lifetimes extend to 80 years and beyond. STS Nuclear in conjunction with TWI Ltd will develop a high temperature, high pressure test rig to complete leak propagation experiments and utilise previously developed sensing techniques to develop AI algorithms providing a material healthiness score in real time representative conditions. The aim of development is to produce a technology to inform operators about potential leak sites, and ultimately provide the characterisation of these sites including, location, size, rate of leak and time at risk, informing safety systems and operations. CLAIMS++ (Coolant Leak Artificially Intelligent Monitoring System) is a development of a TRL3 technology focused on detecting, localising and classifying small leaks in the Reactor Coolant Pressure Boundary of pressurised water rectors (PWRs). This is timely for the market, given the increased recognition that intelligent monitoring systems can add significant benefits to reactor plants, being high-value, long term ROI assets for their operators and investors."

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ELF aims to develop a new UK manufacturing capability for aero engine nacelle extended lip-skins, and in supporting ATI’s strategy to secure and grow the UK’s share of the aerospace structures market, become the global market leader. The innovation behind ELF is focused on taking to market strategic Intellectual Property (IP) developed in the UK and to ensure the capability is not lost to other parts of the world.

"Global warming is expected to increase the intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events. Coupled with urbanisation, these factors are increasing the size and frequency of floods that regions are exposed to. Approximately 2million people in the UK, and many more across the globe, are at risk from pluvial, or rain related, flooding (JRF-Foundation-UK). Pluvial flooding occurs when an extremely heavy downpour of rain saturates the urban drainage system and the excess water cannot be absorbed. Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are a sustainable way to deal with pluvial flood events. SuDS limit the discharge of stormwater from an area, both in flow rate and in volume, enhance the water quality of any discharge; and incorporate devices which provide habitat and enhance the environment. Lightweight-honeycombed (LHC) geo-spacer structures offer an ideal SuDS solution. The project will develop an advanced ultrasonic welding production rig for the sustainable high-volume manufacture of SuDS made from recycled PVC. The focus of the innovation will relate to the development of existing ultrasonic techniques and their application in the robust joining of ""corrugated"" vacuum-formed sheets made from recycled PVC materials."

Nanoé is a French-Malagasy social business moved by the ambition to amplify energy access and employment creation in rural Africa through the implementation of a new electrification model based on renewable energies, digital technologies and local entrepreneurship, named Lateral Electrification. In the PowerPath project Nanoé collaborates with Technovative Solutions Limited, the University of Lancaster, TWI Limited and The Power Hub Limited and seek funding to develop a first of a kind progressive technological concept that clusters smaller power infrastructures (from solar nanogrid, to DC microgrid, to DC/AC minigrid) to deliver more intense energy services (like motor or thermal uses) in a way that ensures stable, abundant energy access through solar. Further to technological development, the business model of PowerPath addresses a plurality of challenges related to the deployment and maintenance of the technologies related to the nanogrids/microgrids as they focus to the training and strong participation of not-skilled community members without gender discrimination to become technically skilled agents of the energy expansion. In this context the project addresses sustainable development goals: SDG-7 (access to energy), SDG-8 (access to employment) and SDG-13 (development of sustainable energy practices).

ALG will develop and combine new designs, methodologies and technologies to accelerate and catalyse benefits for current and next generation of landing gears. A streamlined and rationalised product and assembly process will be developed alongside the MTC, SMI and Sheffield University. Design methodologies and certification approaches with Bristol and Cranfield University. Innovative technology, such as Electron Beam Welding working with TWI and Birmingham University, additive manufacturing with Industrial suppliers, and super lightweight MMC structures with TISICS. Technologies will be incorporated into a 'FLAGSHIP' physical demonstration that will allow our internal and external customers, and industry to understand the art of the possible.

The overall goal of LH2CRAFT is to develop next generation, sustainable, commercially attractive, and safe long-term storage and longdistance transportation of Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) for commercial vessels (or even as fuel in certain applications). It aims at developing an innovative containment system of membrane-type for high-capacity storage (e.g., 200,000 m3) at a temperature of -253 deg C and demonstrating and validating it on a 10 ton (180 m3) prototype. It foresees the analysis of alternative conceptual designs with safety and risk assessment initiated at an early stage of the design process of the cargo containment system (CCS) exceeding currently demonstrated sizes. The design will allow LH2 storage to large dimensions, similar to those of existing LNG carriers. Special characteristics (storage tank, handling, distribution,safety, and monitoring subsystems(HDMSS) of the conceptsthatsupport up- or down-scaling will be detailed in order to prove the modularity and scalability of the proposed solution. The CCS will achieve AiP and general approval by a major classification society (three IACS members are participating). Demonstration will be done via the detailed design, construction, and testing of the reduced size prototype. LH2CRAFT will also develop a preliminary integrated ship design and carry out the corresponding cost estimation, achieving reduced boil-off rates of 0.5 % per day. A life cycle model will provide a significant tool enabling comparison between different new design or retrofit strategies while the LCA of the large carrier will evaluate the environmental impact from cradle to grave identifying also activities related to sustainability and recyclability and determining the environmental benefits. Two societal objectives will be served: society’s needs and EU’s strong global maritime leadership for its innovation-driven industry providing highly skilled jobs, efficient technological solutions, and international regulatory standards.

The DIGIPIPEWELD project will develop a suite of solutions eliminating existing areas of concern in the joining of plastic pipes, where new pipelines often experience premature failure during the installation phase or during service. Due to this failure model, contractors are obliged to carry out destructive testing and non-destructive testing (NDT) on a percentage of operational joints on-site as a route to ensure quality management. This is very costly, typically \>£500 per joint and \> £1000/day. The disruptive element of our project will deliver for the first time an ability to simultaneously weld a joint, while testing the results against known parameters and avoiding possible failures. Furthermore, the system will be autonomous and will eliminate risk associated with human error. DIGIPIPEWELD will offer manufacturing and self-testing of pipe welds in a right-first-time package, something that has never been done before. The technology to be developed is a digitally intelligent controlled Pinweld plastic pipe welding system. The system will be designed to join polymer pipes without defects and will be coupled with sophisticated machine-learning algorithms, enabling the joints to be optimised and recorded, whatever the application and climate. The system will be developed with advanced sensing, data processing, and machine learning to achieve accurate process monitoring, autonomous quality inspection after welding, and real-time leakage detection. This would bring a level of control to plastic pipe installation never before available. Consequently, a brand-new way to join plastic pipes that is highly controllable and reproducible and produces a joint of the same physical properties of the original pipe, offering a game-changing opportunity for any plastic pipe installation. Moreover, greater speed and efficiency, lower energy consumption, plus the added ability to monitor and report, through built-in sensors, will offer installers across the range of sectors a robust, safe, and secure process.

In this project a team of world experts in metallurgy, mechanical engineering, and machine learning will collaborate to build a Digital Qualification Platform for Additive Manufacture ("3D printing"). Additive Manufacture ("AM") has the potential to transform for the better the way a vast range of advanced components are manufactured. It can create objects that are lighter, more intricate and functional, and made from more advanced materials than other manufacturing technologies, and it can do so using less raw material and completely digitally, so no tooling is required. Full use of AM could transform prospects for lower-energy, lower-emission aeroplanes and cars, powered by more sustainable fuels, as well as creating new opportunities in electronics, medical implants, and many other markets. However, AM faces a major barrier to adoption: the cost of designing an optimal component, and proving beyond doubt that can do its job safely for as long as it is required. This has always been a challenge and an expense in aerospace, requiring many millions spent on expensive trials, but it is a particular hurdle for AM, as a novel technology which builds up a component from billions of tiny welds. This project aims to build a future in which new materials and components are designed and proved safe entirely by computational means, saving years of time and millions of pounds, as well as accelerating innovation in aerospace and elsewhere. It will do this by building a Digital Qualification Platform for AM materials and components, including software-packaged computational models and a world-class experimental facility, and demonstrating the Platform through the certification of a heat exchange component built during the project for test flight on a Boeing aircraft. Once applied to AM, the Platform will then be extended to speed innovation, decrease costs, and reduce waste in traditional manufacture. The Project will also create 46 highly-skilled new jobs now and over 2,500 by 2035\. The four-year project will be led by Alloyed, a high-growth technology business based in Oxford, and include Boeing, Renishaw, the manufacturer of AM hardware, TWI Ltd, the UK Atomic Energy Authority, Imperial College, and the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield.

The automotive manufacturing sector is important to the UK economy, with a turnover of £82 billion, directly employing 169,000 people. UK automotive production plants produced 2.71 million internal combustion engines (ICE) in 2018, 4th in Europe, employing 11,500 with £8.5 billion turnover. However, the automotive industry is facing the challenges that ICE production is set to decline over the next decade as they are replaced by EVs due to requirement for zero-tailpipe emission, consumer demand and government regulation. In EVs, battery packs are the most expensive and difficult part of the vehicle to reliably manufacture at scale. Many car manufacturers are moving towards using cylindrical cells (typically 22mm diameter and 70mm long) rather than pouch or prism cells. Cylindrical cells offer the advantage of high energy density, giving greater vehicle range, greater damage tolerance and safety, and faster charge rates. A typical EV will contain some 12,000 joints between cells and bus bars, and typically a vehicle will roll off a plant's production line every 30 seconds. This presents a unique manufacturing and production rate challenge. Conventional welding (typically wire bonding, resistance spot, mini-tig/pulsed arc) can make these joints, but only at a slow rate, as such multiple parallel stations are needed, adding to capital and operational costs. More recently, laser welding has been deployed using galvanometer mirror beam deflection (scanning) and refocussing; offering higher production rates, although the materials used for bus bars (copper and aluminium alloys) are inherently difficult to laser weld due to reflectivity, and the speed of scanning is limited by the speed with which the optics can be mechanically adjusted. In the scenario where a single failure can compromise the lifetime performance of the battery pack, high rejection rates have been experienced with volume laser welding approaches, which has caused several high-profile product recalls. The EB-Bat project will demonstrate battery pack manufacture using a process shown to be potentially x20 times faster than laser welding. EBs can be deflected and refocussed much more rapidly than laser beams, as this is achieved using magnetic fields, without moving parts as the welds are made. In addition, EBs do not suffer from reflectivity from copper and aluminium, making more consistent and reliable welds. The EB-Bat project will provide a compelling demonstration of the process performance, productivity, quality and economics to the automotive manufacturing sector with an aim to secure funding to take it into production.

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Composite materials have been used for decades and have found their way into almost every industrial sector, mainly due to their outstanding material properties and lightweight benefits. Today, 2.5 million tonnes of composite material are used globally in the renewable energy sector. It is estimated that there are 12-15 tonnes of glass fibre reinforced plastic per MW of power. Glass fibre reinforced plastic (GRP) represents the majority of the £54.5billion global market for composites. Over one million tonnes are produced annually in Europe alone, with the construction, infrastructure and transport sectors accounting for almost 70% of that figure. The growing use of glass fibres has increased concern about their waste disposal methods. Tonnes of composite waste containing valuable glass fibres have been accumulating every year from various applications. It is imperative that composite wastes are recycled using a cost-effective methodology with minimal environmental impact. The wind energy sector alone is expected to decommission 40,000 to 60,000 tonnes of composite materials in the next two years. The EMPHASIZING project will address the challenge of recycling composite structures that are currently landfilled or incinerated and will develop a viable value chain to exploit the resulting recyclates. Wind turbine blades, automotive and marine parts will be considered, processed and analysed, and the relevant "roadmaps" will be developed and assessed. The consortium will demonstrate the circular economy concept by fabricating relevant automotive end-products made from upcycled glass fibre materials. The methodology proposed by the consortium introduces a technical step change from state-of-the-art processes such as pyrolysis and solvolysis. This, in turn, allows for a commercial innovation; the high-yield reclamation of high-quality, clean, reusable fibres, free from residues and with retained length, properties almost to virgin materials. Composites UK's Vision and Roadmap for Sustainable Composites depicts a future scenario where by 2040 composites to be a 'go to' material in mobility. This includes the transition through another generation of vehicles (c 2030) where composite use has increased, to replace metallic parts, allowing for the 2040 generation where composite materials are widespread as standard materials. The EMPHASIZING solution impact includes the introduction of low-cost high-quality, high yield reclaimed fibres into production, thus supporting the vision for the industry at 2030 and beyond.

**_The demand for 'thick section' steel structures, primarily in power generation, is strong & growing._** Globally 79% of electricity is generated by thermal processes, in which conventional power plants provide over 62% of global electricity supply and the remaining 17% is by nuclear fission processes and this is expected to increase (IEA, 2015). Thermal power plants make use of a large number of thick section (\\\>20mm) components for many parts of the primary circuit; pump and valve bodies, ancillary systems and other safety critical components. Furthermore, off-shore wind demand in the UK requires \>1,000 structures (towers and foundations) or 1m tonnes of steel p.a. to be cost-effectively fabricated. The fabrication of large metallic structures typically requires high-integrity, thick section, welding; often for structures that are for safety critical applications (e.g. pressure vessels/steam raising plant, aerospace parts, etc). Arc-based welding techniques are first choice for simple engineering steels, but there are limitations in applying these processes to high performance advanced alloys and other materials. Arc-based processes can only weld to a depth of ~2-3mm, and thus multi-pass welding is needed; this increases manufacturing time (sometimes requiring tens or hundreds of passes per welded joint), costs and increases the chance of weld defects and the amount of inspection and re-work needed. **_To reduce cost this manufacturing time needs to be significantly reduced._** Electron beam (EB) welding can weld from 0.1mm to \>200 mm in a single pass, without costly filler wires, uses less process gas and can reduce fume exposure -- and thus can achieve unrivalled productivity improvements (\>1,000x for very thick section fabrications). CVE has over the last 7 years developed and has begun commercialising the 'EBFlow' system; which creates a local-vacuum process head, targeting off-wind fabrication, and reduces this welding time from 6,000hrs to <200hrs, equivalent to a reduction in cost of over 85%. **_The LowCostEB project will use this approach (and learning) to remove the requirement for a vacuum chamber and dedicated shielding through the application of low-cost 'local-chamber' system._** This project will deploy a team comprising Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE) who develop bespoke power beam welding solutions for high integrity fabrications, TWI (an RTO specialising in welding and performance testing) and Stainless Metalcraft (an example end-user fabricator). The consortium will develop and evaluate of the LowCostEB system to improve material utilisation, develop designs for maximising manufacturing efficiency, and establish fabrication methods maximising the economic and production benefits.

The 4th Industrial Revolution/Industry 4.0 has enabled reduction of production costs, improved consistency of product quality and enabled mass customisation by merging the physical and digital worlds. The transition is still ongoing - Industry 4.0 is a general-purpose technology, adding value across all industrial sectors. However, the perception of Industry 4.0 at a human level has not all been positive. It has been plagued by fear of job cuts and in some sectors completely replacing the human workforce. Automation projects have often failed due to omitting the critical skilled human elements in business success with unintended consequences including reduced customer satisfaction, poorer product quality and lower process efficiency. Automation alone clearly cannot be a source of sustained competitive advantage. I5.0 will address the balance between humans and technology, focussing on the collaborative relationship between skilled workers and automation. The intent is reinstate skilled craftsmanship at the centre of production processes where people add unique value and competitive advantage, augmented by intelligent, data-driven technology emerging from Industry 4.0. In the Up-Skill project, we will address the implications of Industry 5.0, in particular the relationship between automation, skilled work and organisational systems. Our research will establish how the relationship between automation and human input plays out in a range of industrial settings, creating comparative case studies to capture effective implementation strategies. We will address under-explored strategic spaces in production - where automation adds value to skilled and artisanal work, and where further automation risks undermining product value. This research will identify the shifting organisational characteristics that are needed to ensure technology advancements are implemented within companies while ensuring sustainable, added value for man, machine, and organisation.

Airframe fabricators use large machined titanium components but their manufacture methods makes inefficient use of material. Most (typically more than 80%) of the high value, pedigree material purchased to make a part is machined away into low-value swarf, that has to be scrapped, or recycled through energy intensive and environmentally costly processes. The industry uses the term buy‐to‐fly ratio (BtF) to quantify the mass of material purchased to make the part, compared with the mass of the finished component. For large components of ~25kg a BtF of 5:1 to 10:1 is typical, but for several wide-body structures BtF of \>20:1 are also seen. AM offers a manufacturing route that can be significantly more material efficient with BtF of 3:1, and typically <2:1 with an optimised process. Powder bed Additive Manufacturing is being used effectively for components of up to ~3kg mass, using powder feedstock, but is too slow and limited in dimension (maximum practical dimension is <1m) to be viable for larger components. For larger components, DED (directed energy deposition) is the AM method; whereby wire or powder feedstock is fed into a deposition head, which is manipulated to form the component layer-by-layer. This AM approach is able to address large (e.g. 25+kg) components reducing the metal consumption of the airframe business, and consequently lower costs and environmental impact. From a material stand-point, Ti6Al4V alloy is recognised as the "workhorse" of airframe fabricators, and represents almost half of the market share of titanium products used worldwide. However, Ti6Al4V suffers from inter-pass columnar grain growth when deposited using DED AM -- which severely reduces its mechanical performance. It is well established that small additions of grain growth modifiers can offer such a solution; the issue has been how to make a suitable, low-cost, feedstock material that can deliver this. Epoch Wires has a unique wire production approach, developed for superconducting wire manufacture, that offers a way to finely and reliably offer such a production method. Within the project, we will produce and evaluate a range of doped wires and establish their 'AM-ability" using a full range of DED AM methods (Arc/WAAM, Laser and Electron Beam DED) -- potentially offering the aerospace sector a key input into unlocking the full potential of AM for aircraft manufacture.

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The SCIENZE (Supply Chain Innovation Engineering for Net Zero) Project aims to create a UK based supply chain that is capable of manufacturing the next generation of power electronic components at volumes higher than is currently feasible to do today. This will be achieved through a combination of novel assembly methods and investment in high levels of automation. The project is the natural successor to McLaren Applied's APC12 project ESCAPE, which will take McLaren Applied's 800V Silicon Carbide inverter and will ensure that the cost of manufacture is as low as possible to ensure competitiveness in the challenging and cost-conscious automotive market. To support this, TT Electronics will investigate and invest in advanced automation techniques that are focused on the manufacturing of power-electronics based products. Microchip will be industrialising their SiC based power modules, leveraging the significant inward investment that has already been made in this area. The Welding Institute and the Driving the Electric Revolution Centre based at Newcastle University will support all of these efforts with novel techniques for assembly and material joining aimed at cost reduction and increased manufacturing process efficiency.

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Landing-Gear Industrial Breakthroughs "I-Break" will develop and manufacture major components with innovative techniques such as powder hot isostatic pressing, additive manufacture and composites. The Landing-Gear major components; main fitting, sliding piston and actuation are drivers of the aircraft key competitiveness factors; * Development time and cost (NRC), * Recurring cost (RC) * Industrial environmental impact Manufacture has changed little over time, relying on large forgings with no UK footprint. I-Break will develop solutions to be applied on the Next-Generation and Zero Emissions aircraft ready for exploitation. Innovative industrial means are essential to secure breakthrough improvements in the key competitiveness factors.

Landing-Gear Industrial Breakthroughs "I-Break" will develop and manufacture major components with innovative techniques such as powder hot isostatic pressing, additive manufacture and composites. The Landing-Gear major components; main fitting, sliding piston and actuation are drivers of the aircraft key competitiveness factors; * Development time and cost (NRC), * Recurring cost (RC) * Industrial environmental impact Manufacture has changed little over time, relying on large forgings with no UK footprint. I-Break will develop solutions to be applied on the Next-Generation and Zero Emissions aircraft ready for exploitation. Innovative industrial means are essential to secure breakthrough improvements in the key competitiveness factors.

The growing demand for composite materials in aerospace due to lightweight advantages over their metallic counterparts has given a new impetus to the development of eco-friendly, cost-effective composite manufacturing processes. A350 XWB and Boeing 777X use more than 50% composites by weight, with the latter having the world's largest aircraft wings formed from composite materials. Historically, aerospace composites have been manufactured using autoclave processes. However, the extremely high equipment and operational costs, prolonged process cycles and inability to make in-process adjustments have led to the need for developing more versatile, less costly out-of-autoclave (OOA) manufacturing routes. While OOA is mostly used in aerospace, sectors such as automotive, renewable energy and consumer electronics are adopting this technology, hoping to improve the efficiency of their processes in terms of time and cost as well as the quality of their products. The continuous need for efficient composite parts renders the development of self-heated tools and in-process adjustment systems along with robust in-process and in-service monitoring imperative. OOA offers efficient thermal management, low cost and the ability to make in-process adjustments over conventional processes. Current self-heated tooling solutions suffer from temperature inhomogeneity and high system complexity. In addition, monitoring capabilities are often limited due to the complexity and high cost of currently available technologies. This implies that the development of low-cost non-intrusive sensing solutions able to withstand processing conditions would significantly enhance the quality of composite materials exploiting their full potential. Therefore, composite manufacturing can be significantly improved by combining effective multi-zone, self-heated tooling in OOA processing with an on-line process and in-service monitoring to ensure robust defect-free manufacturing. The ESENSE project aims to bring to market a smart composite manufacturing route comprising a self-heated, multi-zone OOA composite tooling capable of manufacturing composite parts with process monitoring and through-life sensing capabilities. ESENSE will be a fully controlled processing tool that will minimise the required energy budget and offer unparalleled quality assurance. This will enable first-time-right efficient OOA processes, effectively replacing the extremely costly autoclave moulded parts as well as offering a more robust and cost-effective alternative to existing self-heated tooling solutions. ESENSE's **Unique Selling Points** lie in: 1. 45-55% less costly solution than traditional autoclaves. 2. First-time-right, high-quality and cost-effective OOA aerospace parts. 3. Unparalleled part quality assurance with real-time process monitoring and non-intrusive through-life sensing capabilities via embedded graphene ink sensors. 4. 20% shorter lead times and 15% energy savings throughout the composite-curing processing cycle.

"Power Electronics, Machines and Drives (PEMD) are technologies that enable the control and delivery of electrical energy and includes propulsion in transportation, energy generation and distribution, industrial machines and robotics. They are used in supply chains, like conductors and semiconductors, converter/inverter systems, \[and\] novel electric motor topologies." (KTN, InnovateUK) Efficient and effective thermal management of PEMD is evolving. Optimisation of thermal management products to match ever-higher power densities, whilst reducing weight and footprint, has created an urgent need for innovation in heatsink and cooling plate technology. The increased power densities of electric vehicle (EV) batteries and high-power electronics have led to heat generation at rates beyond the ability to simply air-cool them. Just as many living organisms regulate their temperature by circulating blood throughout their bodies, the next step for thermal management in these high-performance products is to also circulate a cooling liquid. However, contrary to living organisms that biologically grow an interconnected network of blood vessels, manufacturing similar passages inside of parts is a significant engineering challenge. Current solutions, as operated by _PSL Assemblies Ltd_ (PSL), require combining multiple materials and many labour-intensive steps. _TWI Ltd_ (TWI) has recently invented a new sub-surface machining technique called CoreFlow(TM). It reaches through the outer "skin" of a part to remove the inside "core" of it, all without removing the outer skin. This new solid-state process allows for the creation of sub-surface networks of channels to be created within solid metal parts directly, thus enabling smaller form-factor and lighter thermal management components. Furthermore, it is digitally driven allowing for the creation of customised sub-surface network sizes and patterns without the need for additional tooling. This approach has transformative potential for producing higher-performance thermal management solutions with elevated reliability. **_The main drawback of this approach is that it relies on costly specialised manufacturing equipment._** _Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies Ltd_ (HMT) modularises specialist processes into heads that are useable on mainstream machine tools (the most foundational metalworking tool in the manufacturing industry). In the _SubSurface_ project HMT will migrate the CoreFlow(TM) process invented by TWI into a highly accessible and cost-effective solution, retrofittable to existing CNC machines. This will allow the formation of sub-surface networks and external machining to be accomplished in one machine and drive competitiveness and performance to new heights. This will empower _PSL_ and associated UK industry unprecedented leadership in thermal management solutions to enable next-generation PEMD technologies and bespoke liquid-cooled products.

Road traffic has long been recognised as a major source of air pollution due to emissions of a range of gaseous pollutants, most notably carbon monoxide. However, road transport is also a damaging source of 'non-exhaust emissions' (NEE) particles, which are produced from frictional processes associated with vehicle usage: predominantly from brakes. In contrast to exhaust emissions, which are projected to be significantly reduced with the advent of Electric Vehicles (EVs), NEE arise regardless of the type of vehicle and its mode of power, and contribute to the total ambient particulate matter burden associated with human ill-heath and premature mortality. Brake dust, emitted during vehicle braking, produces significant amounts of PM10 and PM2.5, i.e. atmospheric particulate matter of diameter less than 10um and 2.5um. Owing to their small size - roughly 5 to 10 times thinner than a human hair - PM2.5 emissions are capable of passing through the human respiratory system and into the lungs. A number of health conditions are linked to their presence, including respiratory illnesses and reduced immunity. ECOBrakeDisc will address this issue, introducing novelties across the entire brake disc manufacturing supply chain and capitalising on the significant market opportunity. Recent developments in Extreme High-speed Laser Application, a coating technique invented merely three years ago, will introduce a step change in the efficiency and performance of brake disc coatings. Our developments will help the automotive industry in its objective to evolve new brake disc solutions, generating a coating that has a long life, improved surface tribology and interaction with the brake pad, and reduce or eliminate the presence of carcinogenic particles by reducing wear and removing copper, nickel, chromium and cobalt elements. ECOBrakeDisc will drive the development of 4 key new products i) novel powders without harmful elements, ii) methodologies for optimising the EHLA process, iii) route-to-market industrialisation of coated discs using EHLA and iv) new prototype brake discs for validating ECOBrakeDisc approach The solution is the product of a strategic alliance between Meritor, a leading Tier-1 automotive brakes supplier and global lead in commercial vehicles \>6 tons, ASCO who specialise in precision machining and coating technologies including HVOF, plasma spray and EHLA, and Wall Colmonoy, a world-class coating alloy producer with over 80 years of experience. TWI, who have jointly pioneered significant advancements in EHLA technology, compliment the industrial partners.

Metals production, from mining ore through manufacturing parts, accounts for 7% of global energy use. While metal additive manufacturing (AM) has been promoted as a way to help us reduce our carbon footprint, this has not been well demonstrated with clear and complete information. Furthermore, there lacks a comprehensive comparison of energy consumption by the different AM processes. To optimize when, where, which, and how to implement AM, we must be able to assess its environmental impact and compare this to conventional manufacturing processes like CNC Machining. For effective analysis, we must consider the whole manufacturing lifecycle. This includes all the steps from feedstock manufacturing, printing, post-processing, and any material reuse along the way. Continuing studies and analysis will only achieve so much, the need to implement digital tools that can monitor, analyse, predict and alert a range of impact and deviations in standard operating procedures is fundamental to continue the maturing of a manufacturing process which has already had an impact on material efficiency. The process of AM is sensitive to many factors, and while AM opens many design efficiencies, such as part consolidation, the energy impact from materials requiring conditioning, not meeting required standards and the time taken to develop build parameters to ensure build by build stability is key to reducing energy use. A print failure has tremendous energy impact. A CNC machine will use 23 KWh per Kg of material removed, with a high rate of success in part quality. Compared to AM and L-PBF which uses on average 80.5 KWh per Kg of material added. Part acceptance rates for L-PBF are lower than a CNC Machine. For every 100kg of material processed, assuming an equal 10% part-failure rate, 805 KWh of energy would be wasted versus the 230KWh for CNC. The development of the tools proposed within the SAMCRD project would make a profound impact in energy reduction and accelerate additive manufacturing as a viable sustainable production process as part of the UK's manufacturing capabilities.

MASTER brings together GKN Aerospace, Curtiss-Wright, Gardner, 3M, Constellium, TWI, AMRC and Cranfield University - a consortium with \>7500 UK workforce, and global influence. The consortium will develop friction stir welding, metal bonding/fibre-metal-laminates and machining of integrated additive manufactured net-shapes to remove 10,000s of fasteners from strategic products and capitalise on design freedom of emerging platforms. Simultaneously, Cranfield shall lead environmental sustainability analysis to drive technology decisions and supply chain design.

Laser welding is a high throughput, low distortion, fully automated joining method, already used by aerospace and automotive industries for several decades to fabricate structures from fuselage sections to car bodies. The requirements on the welds in such structures, depending on the application in question, can be very demanding: strength, resistance to fatigue, resistance to corrosion, aesthetics etc. Laser welding takes place at high speed and results in very small welds. This, coupled with the demands placed on the welds, renders even small imperfections unacceptable. Meeting this quality challenge is always difficult. This is becoming more so, as structures needed for safer and more energy-efficient aircraft and mass-electrification of road transport become larger and more intricate. This currently limits the broader uptake of laser welding, which would otherwise be an attractively productive manufacturing technique. This is compounded by the fact that laser welding requires precise setup. Welding can prove intolerant to small gaps between parts, or small positioning errors between the laser beam and those parts. Gaps and errors can result from problems upstream, with inadequate material controls, incorrect part placement, and poor fixturing, as well as distortion-induced part movement during welding. Such problems are further exacerbated in larger structures made out of thin materials. Cost-effective, flexible, and accurate beam manipulation over a large working area is essential, as is a capability for intelligent real-time adjustments in the beam during welding. This requirement is not currently well served by industrial robots, nor alternative manipulators such as scanners or gantries. The e-Tau project will develop, test and validate a novel precision laser welding system, facilitating a step-change in the quality of larger aerospace and automotive welded structures: * By developing cutting-edge high precision parallel kinematic machine (PKM) Tau robot manipulation * That works with advanced laser beam wobbling optics * Integrated with intelligent quality assurance and control sensors * Then demonstrating the application of that system to the fabrication of large wing skin structures for the aerospace sector, and assembly of a range of automotive parts for e-mobility * Along with an accompanying digital twin system, to visualise and quantify production applications with throughput and cost information. With this, e-Tau will unlock, for manufacturing as a whole: * Improved tolerance to part placement and fit-up for laser welding. * Improved - and maintained - weld quality. * Increased productivity and reduction in repairs and scrap. Reduced and potentially eliminated need for expensive and time-consuming post-weld NDT.

The Digital Supply-Chain Innovation Hub (DSCIH) will establish and nurture an ecosystem that connects expertise from supply-chain experts in many of the UKs most important manufacturing industries with technology providers, research organisations and academics to improve their competitiveness, resilience, productivity and sustainability. It will combine \>£10mn in private co-investment with £10mn in public funding over ~4 years to accelerate commercial integration of industrial digital technologies by a wide range of UK manufacturing supply-chains. The Hub will be managed by the Digital Catapult, collaborating with HVMC, NPL and TWI. The consortium are already active members of the government's flagship, "MadeSmarter" programme of R&D support to the UKs manufacturing sector. The Hub will rapidly establish a national "network of excellence" in digital supply-chains by cross linking existing networks, seeded by existing relationships and the previous successes of the MadeSmarter programme, facilitating collaboration between industries and across supply-chains. Any UK based organisation with supply-chain or digital solution expertise will be able to bid for access to ISCF co-funding, expertise and testbeds to deliver ~£8mn portfolio of digital innovation projects, helping accelerate digitisation of the UK's critical manufacturing supply-chains. The Hub will also deliver five "flagship" projects which will act as exemplar testbeds: * **Last Mile Living Lab (LMLL)**, led by DC, seeks to explore and develop delivery resource management infrastructure to tackle the challenging and costly "last mile" of delivery. * **Digital Enabled Manufacturing Sourcing (DEMS)**, led by TWI, seeks to connect manufacturing capacity with emerging manufacturing needs to increase capacity utilisation and boost production flexibility. * **Differentiator**, led by AMRC, will develop new supply-chain models to support clinical trials and help get the right medicine to the right patient at the right dose, on demand. * **Connected Tempest** (NCC,AMRC) seeks to supply and accelerate digital skills development and connectivity of the Tempest Supply chain, driving cost and time savings into the design phase of the defense programme. * **Supply-Chain Lab** (Deloitte) will be cross-sectoral and focus on earlier stage ideation to help SMEs identify valuable challenges and develop 120 day roadmaps to solution implementation The hub will monitor, impact assess and disseminate transferable lessons-learned to accelerate technology transfer between supply-chains. The Hub will be supported by ISCF MadeSmarter funding until March 2025\. Thereafter, the hub will become self-sustaining, funded by industry to ensure UK manufacturing supply-chains continue digital transformation, driving improvements in competitiveness, resilience and sustainability for decades to come.

WeldVue brings together leading innovators from the UK and Turkey with the SMART framework. The objective of the project is to implement advanced AI-based model for automotive parts manufacturing processes, optimisation, and reconfiguration -- Targeting critical welded components. The application of the WeldVue framework in a manufacturing line will result in the fabrication of high-quality products with near-zero defects. The digitalisation elements toward industry 4.0 will be complemented by a novel, first of a kind hybrid non-destructive testing platform for quality control purposes. Replacing the manual techniques currently utilised. Initially targeting high volume automotive sector, the technology has long term commercial value within aerospace, energy, and wider manufacturing domains. WeldVue enables UK SMEs STL and Ether to engage with Turkish Tier 1 automotive supplier Coskunoz. Supported by UK research partners TWI and Brunel (BUL), the final system will undergo a prolonged validation period within Coskunoz production plant ensure rapid market take-up. With Turkish automation specialist Teknopar supporting the complete platform integration into the operational environment.

Additive manufacture (AM) is a highly disruptive technology with the capability to transform future aircraft platforms, but to date has focused on fusion-based techniques. Cold spray uses solid-state deposition and provides unique advantages in scale, speed, process conditions and enables a more extensive range of metals and multi-metallic structures. This project proposes to install a dedicated cold spray additive manufacturing (CSAM) cell for aerospace OEMs to develop and validate manufacturing opportunities with high potential for cost-saving and step-change performance. Following this capital investment, a portfolio of projects will increase the TRL and provide UK aerospace with a unique competitive advantage.

The aim of the "Digital Supply Chain Adoption Curve" - DSCAC - project is to provide a product roadmap that helps deliver the vision of a fully integrated, digital supply chain. While the vision is not new, it has been stifled by a lack of adoption. That's despite the fact that such an integration could deliver significant value in terms of efficiency, agility and security.- Yet, the vision has been held back by the fact that tools don't address needs and fears of supply chain participants, particularly SME's. Challenges include, among others, (a) companies fears related to sharing intellectual property, as well as (b) the inadequacy of digital tools, particularly at SME level, and the related necessity. Through its previous work on both connected Manufacturing Execution Systems and research related to light weight digital supply chain tools, Authentise discovered a myriad of opportunities potentially exist that deliver value but, in falling short of full integration, address some of the challenges that have prevented this full integration from occurring. Intermediate products that address a particular need while limiting the information requirement, the adoption of a fully digital supply chain can be sped up. It is important that these tools are considered holistically to ensure that they are contributing to the vision of a fully integrated supply chain. Thus, in this feasibility study the main aim is to learn (including reviewing existing solutions and literature and questioning key supply chain stakeholders), design (including identifying potential product areas - both served and unserved - and compiling full product definitions on each of them), and test (including high level test with industry interviews and granular test in the TWI test bed) an integrated digital supply chain. The result is not just a report but a full set of product definitions that industry participants can use to identify and de-risk potential market opportunities. This type of holistic review yielding a product roadmap has not been available previously. The combination of research organisations (JI4C, TWI) with a software vendor (Authentise) and a certification agency (Lloyd's Register) will ensure that these solutions have both regulatory and academic rigor whilst maintaining an action oriented approach that software vendors can use to deliver real-world results, which may be pursued through a follow on Industrial Research application.

Pressure vessels are safety critical infrastructure, present across many industries such as oil and gas, nuclear, petrochemical and aerospace. Assuring the safety of these ageing assets is increasingly important, as there have been many fatal failures in the past. This is affected via regular assessments of fitness for service, which are regulated by exacting industry standards. The standards specify that a full volumetric inspection of pressure vessels must be carried out every five years. 20% of pressure vessels in the oil and gas industry cannot be inspected externally and internal inspections require production shutdown. Industry have publicised the need to remove humans from these **dull, dirty, dangerous and demanding** environments. Therefore industry is pushing for non-intrusive robotic inspections Internal inspection has significant cost and health and safety risk associated with it: in order to carry out such inspection, the operator must stop production, depressurise, store extracted fluid, vent , etc. The total cost associated with these activities can easily exceed £1M within a few days. More importantly, these tasks are currently carried out by human operators. It is not possible for humans to carry out inspection on these assets without breaking containment, the only way to do so, is via robotics and artificial intelligence. Providing such solutions is our main motivation. CHIMERA is a semi-autonomous robotic crawler for internal pressure vessel inspection, maintenance and repair. It can be deployed into the pressure vessel without breaking containment via an innovative bolt on headworks. The current version is equipped with sensors for self-localisation, brush for cleaning vessel walls (both in air), ultrasonic inspection system (capable of functioning in water), supplied with AI, which creates corrosion maps and reasoned maintenance and repair plans and a slender arm for visual inspection and repair in aeroengines. The project is coming to an end, with testing and demonstrations of the crawler about to start and the slender arm demonstrations delayed by six months due to COVID-19. It is proposed to develop the next better integrated version of CHIMERA - CHIMERA 2, with both navigation and ultrasonic systems capable of functioning in a vessel half-filled with water and the robotic arm suitable for inspection of aircraft wings too. There are close ties between the consortium and the targeted industries, providing a direct route to market/exploitation. The members propose to exploit them and demonstrate a fully integrated version, CHIMERA 2, to external stakeholders at the end of the new project.

The aerospace industry is working towards building a sustainable industry to reduce its environmental impact and effect on climate change. Replacing damaged parts with the new ones is a costly affair, which can be avoided if the parts can be repaired and remanufactured. However, traditional technologies such as electron beam patch welding or high-velocity-oxy fuel or plasma spray are not suitable to effectively repair next generation parts. The extensive heat input from these processes can cause thermal and geometrical distortions and degrade mechanical properties, resulting in an unacceptable risk to safety. Therefore, new alternative technologies must be explored for repairing such advanced components. The emerging processes of cold spray, high velocity air fuel (HVAF) spray, extreme high speed laser cladding (EHLA) and laser metal deposition-powder (LMDp) have been identified by the consortium as promising surface engineering and additive manufacturing technologies, due to their lower heat input compared with traditional techniques. All of these emerging technologies make use of powder feedstock material, with the process reliability and deposit quality dependent on well-controlled powder properties (composition, microstructure, morphology, powder size distribution). Ti-6Al-4V powders are typically manufactured via gas atomization and result in a low yield of powders in the desired size distribution. This results in high costs and limits the uptake of many emerging repair and additive manufacturing technologies. Novel approaches to manufacture of high value Ti-6Al-4V powders will create highly flowable titanium powders with a fine and narrow size distribution at a much lower cost. The process is also expected to result in powders with novel microstructures. While less of a concern for the laser-based repair processes that re-melt particles, such changes to microstructure are expected to increase ductility during deformation and as such, significantly benefit the spray-based processes of HVAF and cold spray. Therefore, the DEMAND-REPAIR project plans to explore novel advanced manufacturing technologies and innovative titanium powders to repair the next generation aero-engine components.

This project aims to establish the feasibility of developing a process that STL can use to manufacture aluminium and copper bimetal connectors for both the electrification and power supply markets. Currently, these materials or connectors are not available from any UK source and it is doubtful if they are available from any European producer at the sizes STL hopes to make. In the EV sector, material circa 2mm thick is required and this technique could also allow for different thicknesses to be developed. Aluminium is considerably lighter than copper and sufficiently conductive for major parts of the circuit. Copper generally is needed for cell battery terminations but not for bulk current carrying. EVs have up 7000 cells per unit, the halving of the number of welds needed by the use of pre-bonded material would give considerable reliability and cost benefits when considering the alternatives. Laser welding and wire bonding are used in the EV sector and known to have a number of constraints including poor reliability: the fewer joints there are the more reliable the product. And the lighter the better. As far as is known this technique is not practiced by any competitor in this specific field. Variations of the technique are known of in the USA & Europe but this proposal of integral bonding and further processing within one facility is believed to be unique. TWI have some experience in this field but have not yet bonded aluminium to copper and have no facility to do so in such a way, nor any facility to realise the end product. If the technique can be proven to work reliably and that a real market exists, then STL will scale up the bonding into a more hygienic industrial scale process. Alternative cladding and bonding techniques exist, including an embryonic diffusion bonding route from STL. However, the diffusion approach has serious difficulties and constraints for production scale supply. STL has actual business within the EV sector with a customer using stamped mono-metal busbars for a hypercar project and serious interest from others within the start-up and prototype market. From there leverage can be used to address the market for mainstream applications within Europe.

Low-speed (20 mph) accidents saw year-on-year increase of 31% (2016-2017, Department of Transport); injury increase was broken down as fatal (+79%), serious (+47%), and slight (+42%). A crash box is a thin-walled structure attached between the vehicle bumper structure and the side rail to improve crash performance in low-speed accidents. The determination of the crash box geometry is important to absorb the impact energy, since the installation space of the crash box is not very large. Conventional crash boxes (i.e. those manufactured from steel or aluminium) exhibit high-peak force and have no way of controlling the rate of deceleration following a crash. Composite alternatives are limited in use due to unpredictable failure. PROTECT is an innovative new crash-box with better impact energy-absorption capabilities; enabling minimal damage to the vehicle itself, its occupants, and other road users. In the event of a low-speed collision, PROTECT will help reduce damage to the vehicle, its occupants and the wider public. This will result in safer roads and vehicles, along with minimised repair costs. As a result of this innovative solution, the consortium partners expect to create 227 jobs and generate cumulative revenues of £51.6 million by 2029\.

In BattMan3D we will develop innovative new industrial 3D printers for the manufacture of battery cells designed for electric vehicles. By improving manufacturing techniques, we will support the UK in establishing world-leading capabilities in state-of-the-art battery production. Our industry-specific formulations and printers will be designed to produce electrodes with complex geometries, with improved energy density. Our process will print entire battery cells, from anode through electrolyte to cathode, including the casing. We will demonstrate the technology during the project using typical lithium-ion battery cell chemistry, but our printers will be designed to be ready for future battery technologies, with capabilities to print a range of cathode and anode materials as well as solid-state electrolytes. By the end of the project we will have developed: * A 3D printer for battery cell components, suitable for commercialisation at a retail price below £250k * Printable formulations, utilising functionalised nanoparticles, to produce cell electrodes and separators * Demonstrator battery pack, validated and benchmarked against conventionally produced batteries This will have significant benefits for the battery industry: * Replacement of a 4-step process (coating, drying, calendaring, notching) with simple deposition and cure, thus reducing the fabrication time by a factor of 10 * Reduction of production costs for a 40kWh auto battery by more than £1255 * Removal of environmentally damaging N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) solvents from cell production process * Up to 85% reduction in waste management expense In this way we will improve vertical integration in the cell manufacture process, improving UK capabilities and resilience of supply. We will also remove high-energy processes and high-risk materials from the manufacturing chain, while benefiting from the cleaner energy mix of the UK grid to improve the overall environmental footprint of automotive battery manufacture.

Electrification of vehicles is key to achieve global legislative requirements for CO2 emissions reductions. Zero emissions within cities, higher quality and higher performance electrified vehicles (EVs) is also making them more attractive. \>2 million EVs were sold globally in 2018, 68% were battery electric vehicles (BEV) and 31% were plugin hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), with an annual growth rate of 57%. Pack costs are expected to reduce from €155/kWh today to €90/kWh in 2030, through technological advancements and economies of scale. However, several issues currently limit further exploitation. High-volume EV production is still in its infancy in the UK and even the leading manufacturers lack the knowledge to design systems that can be readily manufactured by processes suitable for volume production. These EV systems are assembled, and must finally all be connected together (individual cells, to modules, to battery packs to motors, to complex PEMD systems), with potentially 10,000 -- 100,000+ welds per EV power train required. However, numerous complex issues are associated with the joining processes required to achieve these connections. EV producers, SME through to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) level, struggle to select compatible materials and joining processes, to specify and design the required EV systems and to select suitable manufacturing processes. _The EV-Join project will provide a user friendly software tool that addresses major issues faced by companies developing EV systems_, namely: * A selection process that allows feasible joint designs to be created, taking into account materials to be joined and required geometries. * A selection of suitable joining processes for the materials combinations and joint geometries. * Assistance with a calculation of production rates and costs to aid a user in selecting a production process. * Assistance for planning of production line processes taking into account the requirements and limitation of each joint combination and production process. This will include requirements for critical upstream and downstream processes. * In service joint properties, manufacturing process requirements to achieve those properties. With this, EV-Join will unlock, for manufacturing as a whole: * Reduced time-to-market for all sizes of manufacturing businesses in the UK supply chain. * More efficient selection of the joining process, taking into account materials to be joined, productivity and geometries requirements. * Improved - and maintained - weld quality. * Increased productivity and reduction in repairs and scrap. * Reduced and potentially eliminated need for expensive and time-consuming post-weld Non-Destructive-Testing (NDT).

RapidWeld will use a novel electron beam welding process, Reduced Pressure Electron Beam welding (RPEB) to fabricate welds on offshore wind foundation monopiles. These will be 'First-in-Class' globally establishing this UK innovation as world-leading technology, with substantial benefits to UK energy consumers, UK offshore engineering, the associated offshore wind supply chain and the UK's high value jobs market. RPEB uses heat generated by a beam of high-velocity electrons to make a high strength and durable welded steel join in a clean and efficient way. The project aims to be disruptive to existing welding technology and reduce the costs of future offshore wind foundation monopiles by up to 20%. With monopile type foundations accounting for over 90% of foundations used in UK projects, RPEB could realise significant cost savings on future projects. The RapidWeld project team comprises: SSE, the UK's leading offshore wind developer; Aquasium Technologies (trading as CVE), the SME designer and manufacturer of the RPEB equipment; SIF, a global leading fabricator; and, TWI, the UK's foremost welding research establishment.

COVID-19 has caused significant disruption to many markets and has created a need for flexible and adaptable manufacturing methods that can offer significant economic advantages to cope with the disruption. Additive manufacturing (AM) is an obvious candidate that has already seen some industrial success especially in the aerospace, medical and power generation sectors due to its high process efficiency, low material wastage, and the ability to manufacture components or coatings with complex geometries and/or improved material properties. The compact wire-feed head developed by HMT for wire laser metal deposition (w-LMD), a form of AM, has the potential to supersede both traditional subtractive manufacturing methods as well as current state-of-the-art AM processes. The head is capable of depositing material between 0.5 -- 4+kg/hr and was developed from standard w-LMD side-feed technology. However, its unique design allows for a more stable process with effective-omnidirectional deposition. The head is also very adaptable due to its compact size, where its laser - blown powder variant is globally leading in its design for ease of integration into machine tools though automated tool change system. This project will develop and deploy an innovate approach for wire delivery in LMD to prove the commercial viability in a number of different industrial sectors. This will be achieved by applying the technology to a number of real-world industrial components to demonstrate added-value and market potential within the UK. The key outputs from _FastWireAM_ are: 1\.**Demonstration of added-value** provided by the w-LMD head, including reduced production time and material waste, accelerating **market uptake** in a number of diverse sectors and applications to provide additional revenue streams for the partners. 2\.**Improved hardware and process** through performance mapping and parameter optimisation, ensuring a robust and reliable manufacturing method and quality required by industry. The successful completion of this project will demonstrate and establish the commercial viability of this process. We expect that the technology will be offered as a manufacturing solution to both current and new customers and revenue streams, and retrofitted onto new and existing machine tools.

Many engineering and structural components are made of plastic, when previously they would have been made from metals or even wood. A potentially vast and multi-sector marketplace, this is particularly true for the automotive sector, where plastics are increasingly used for panels, components and bumpers. The focused challenge we are addressing is that it is currently virtually impossible to repair cracks in most plastics without damaging them further due to the excessive heat required in existing repair processes, a view which has ultimately led the target industry to pursue the unfortunate and unsustainable methodology of 'replace not repair'. The environmental impact of this is significant, take just bumpers in the UK. Our research shows that repairing just one bumper saves in excess of 31kg C02e. This figure doesn't include disposal or downcycling of the damaged bumper, or the packaging, storage and shipping of a replacement. Our purpose is to make a positive impact on the environment and to help other countries do the same. _Repair rather replace_. Pinweld's unique solution maintains the high value of these components by quickly and discretely 'removing' almost all trace of a crack. A completely novel method of plastic welding, it has been met with great enthusiasm by automotive repairers and insurers alike. Early welds tested at the University of Bath (UoB) recorded encouraging results in excess of 90% strength. At this weld strength, our repairs do not require support materials like meshes and staples in order to be effective, a feature of environmental merit during later recycling. But the story doesn't end there. Working closely with our key partners this new weld technology can be transferred to many other sectors, helping reduce material waste, providing more secure and accurate welds especially for pipes (water, gas, oil) and manufacturing opportunities with robotics Everything Pinweld does is focused on developing this weld technology_---_ all with the eventual goal of contributing to less waste, lower emissions and increased use and reuse of plastics enabling moving away from traditional unsustainable material usage.

This project aims to establish the feasibility of developing a process that STL can use to manufacture multi-material connectors for both the electrification and power supply markets. Currently these materials or connectors are not available from any UK source and it is doubtful if they are available from any European producer at the sizes and volumes STL hopes to make. In the ZEV sector, material circa 2mm thick is required and this technique could also allow for different thicknesses to be developed. Aluminium is considerably lighter than copper and sufficiently conductive for major parts of the circuit. Copper generally is needed for cell battery terminations but not for bulk current carrying. EVs have up 7000 cells per unit, the halving of the number of welds needed by the use of pre-bonded material would give considerable reliability and cost benefits when considering the alternatives. Laser welding and wire bonding are used in the EV sector and known to have a number of constraints including poor reliability, the less joints there are the more reliable the product, and the lighter the better. As far as is known this technique is not practiced by any competitor in this specific field. Variations of the technique are known of in the USA and Europe but this proposal of integral bonding and further processing within one facility is believed to be unique. TWI have some experience in this field but have not yet bonded aluminium to copper and are not the producer of end products. If feasibility can be proven and that a real market exists then STL will be able to invest in facilities and development of a more hygienic industrial scale process. STL has actual business within the ZEV sector with a customer using stamped mono-metal busbars for a hypercar project and serious interest from others within the startup and prototype market. From there leverage can be used to address the market for mainstream applications within Europe.

The use of fibre steering to enhance composite structural performance has been seen as having significant potential for reducing material use and reduction in manufacturing costs. It also has been shown to have capabilities for aero-elastic tailoring. This allows an aircraft wing to bend with a reduced twist. Reducing twist allows the wing to be more efficient over a range of wind speeds. This will have an impact on environmental emissions and improve the economic viability in aerospace structures. This could also be extended into other sectors like automotive and wind energy. Current solutions for fibre steering are automatic tape laying (ATL) and tailored fibre placement (TFP) These have both of limitations. ATL cannot steer with a tight radius and steering causes fibre wrinkling and gaps, compromising the structural performance. TFP is a slow process so cannot deposit material fast enough for anything of a significant size. Also the stitching used compromises the structural performance. iCOMAT have created a new tape laying process, continuous tow shearing (CTS) which promises to rival the speed of ATL but without the wrinkling and gaps. It also can lay around tight radii (100mm). However there is an issue that commercial software does not exist to simplify design, analysis and optimisation of structures using CTS. The project is aiming to develop the prototype CTS head design to a level where it can be introduced to industrial applications. In parallel to this development MSC Software will develop design, analysis and optimisation tools to make it accessible to prospective users. They will also write a tool translating the final design back into fibre paths for the CTS head to follow, completing the "digital thread" in this process. DaptaBlade will develop multi-disciplinary software which will enable coupling of a wing structural model with fluid dynamics analyse to perform aeroelastic tailoring. The project will also create demonstrator structures which will be used to verify the analysis and manufacturing software. These will be structurally tested at TWI.

Current inspection of rail track defects utilises Network Rail's four Ultrasonic Testing Units (UTUs) that traverse the UK network, 64,000 miles of track, in 750 shifts per year. With a limitation of 30 miles per hour for rail track inspection, UTUs cannot meet the high demand and increased capacity of customers. Every day, 4.8 million people travel by train in Britain. Around 200,000 tonnes of freight and goods are transported by rail in that same time frame, supporting businesses and consumers, productivity, and economic growth whilst taking thousands of lorries off the road, and helping in the reduction of greenhouse gasses. A risk-free network of rail tracks across the UK is pivotal to Network Rail's long-term planning process strategy and its vision for running a safe, reliable, efficient and growing railway, in Control Period 6 and beyond. Undiscovered rail track defects lead to asset failure, unscheduled maintenance, timetable delays, accidents, and fatalities. Train delays cost passengers 3.6 million hours in 2016, whilst over £72M was claimed by passengers from operators for service disruptions in 2016/17\. With the growing demand on rail transport by passengers, there is need for commercial solutions that offers high-speed (i.e. above 60 miles per hour) high resolution, rail track inspection, and data analysis in real-time. A commercial solution with the capacity to enable UK network-wide coverage. This RAPPID project seeks to address the challenges that the UK rail network faces regarding rapid high-speed high-resolution identification of rail track defects, data collation and analysis, enabling real-time predictive analysis, and predictive maintenance of rail tracks across the UK network and globally. The RAPPID project is based on the novel use of Virtual Source Aperture non-destruction testing techniques in combination with artificial intelligence and deep-learning methodologies that enable real time data processing and analysis of rail track data derived via use of next generation phased-array ultrasonic testing hardware.

The AutoMon project solution offers an AI-enabled continuous, automated ultrasonic inspection and monitoring system that can identify the defects in critical components within plants including pipes, joints, welds, and complex shaped geometries. The developed solution will enable refineries, petrochemical, power, and nuclear plant owners/operators to improve plant reliability and reduce the downtime due to components failures. It will result in the safe operation of aging plants in the EU, Canada and worldwide. The proposed advanced AI solution by autonomously identifying and reporting defects to the plant operators will reduce the dependence of monitoring data interpretation by skilled NDT expert considering the shortage of labour in NDT industry, this adds significant benefits of the proposed solution. Such a tool will also reduce the time for decision making of maintenance and repair operations thus, improving the overall performance and operational efficiency of plants.

In Adv-Flow we will develop the next generation of advanced, high temperature Coriolis mass flow meters. The large line size products that this project is targeting are particularly suited to the oil and gas, and chemical markets. The increasing demand for operation in demanding and challenging departments has created the opportunity for KROHNE to develop new product lines based on advanced materials. Our state of the art Coriolis flowmeters are recognised as being world leading with total annual sales of 18,000 of which 15,000 is from manufacturing based in the UK. In order to meet this business need, we have identified that we must overcome the technical challenges associated with developing our product lines using new, highly corrosion resistant materials e.g. duplex, super duplex and hyper duplex stainless steels. To achieve this we have identified critical project partners Langley Alloys and TWI for their expertise in the base materials and vacuum brazing, which will significantly de-risk the project. The project will explore opportunities for innovation related to product design, alternative braze filler metal compositions and within the manufacturing process. KROHNE has been particularly successful with its OPTIMASS 2000 line of large straight tube Coriolis meters. These offer a unique patented configuration that gives benefits to the end user in terms of installation envelope and low pressure drop. This benefits the end user in lower installation and pumping costs. Typically these are manufactured from standard stainless steels and we have identified an opportunity for new products with superior corrosion resistance.

Awaiting Public Project Summary

International competitiveness requires the UK to modernise its industrial capabilities, which are steering industries towards widespread development and adoption of automation, and autonomous based solutions. These technologies have the potential to create novel and disruptive manufacturing capabilities leading to significant improvements in quality, accuracy, precision, and cost to manufacture. High integrity welding is a key enabling technology for UK manufacturing and the purpose of WeldZero is to develop and showcase the benefits of adopting intelligent welding robotic system solutions within a cyber-physical production system (CPPS). The WeldZero project will develop and showcase the benefits of digital technologies applied to welding operations in an industrial manufacturing context to support a zero defect strategy. By bringing together state-of-the-art data integration approaches and data handling with real-world manufacturing to work to the achievement of zero defects in a multi-stage production line. This will prove the effectiveness of digital welding and accelerate the wider adoption of the new Industry 4.0 strategies in the existing manufacturing systems -- improving the competitiveness of the UK. The system created will be based around a data rich manufacturing environment whereby both direct machine control and feedback can be collated and processed in real-time. Coupled to this system will be a number of additional technology applications such as weld toolpath planning and simulation, advanced sensor integration and control algorithms, machining learning and data analysis. This will then feedback into specific welding cell control systems to substantially improve manufacturing performance. The project will demonstrate the impact of WeldZero using four different welded product applications from the construction, automotive and off-shore manufacturing sectors; each using different welding process solutions; with the aim of increasing productivity by at least 40%. WeldZero contributes to all key innovation areas under the Manufacturing Made Smarter competition: Smart connected factory: application and use of use of real-time data to optimise operational efficiency capture, analysis and visualisation of manufacturing processes. Connected and versatile supply chain: Full process information integration, communication and traceability are a key aspects of WeldZero. Design, make, test, including: Primarily contributing to virtual product testing, verification and validation, quality monitoring and inspection -- in the context of weld processing and manufacturing sequencing design. Adaptable, flexible manufacturing operations: Enable adoption of advanced welding technologies in a human-centric automation and autonomy, enabling flexible manufacturing systems.

Awaiting Public Project Summary

The ongoing concerns and heightened regulation of perfluorocarbons and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFCs and PFASs), is driving the textile market to search for sustainable alternative chemistries. There is a clear demand for alternative, greener, durable water repellents (DWR) for textiles.The current state of the art that offers the highest level of repellency for both oil and water resistance has been achieved using highly fluorinated chemical substances. Unfortunately, the best performing PFCs, known as C8 due to the 8 carbon atoms in their backbone chain, also raise significant health and environmental concerns that surround the loss of fluorinated by products from textiles. The concern of toxic releases is throughout the life-cycle of the product, from production to end of life. The by-products are known to be bioaccumulative and extremely persistent in the environment/food chain and are possibly carcinogenic. Therefore, within the European Union (EU), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) is regulated to detectable levels of 1 µg per square metre in textile fabrics (European Union, 2006).The project objective will be to deliver cost-effective alternative treatment that will provide textile with durable repellent characteristics. This will be achieved by developing suitable molecular structures which incorporate both low surface energy 22 (mN/m) properties and suitable binding groups to facilitate chemical bonding to the fibre surface yielding a high-performance product. The research innovation of TWI, will provide low surface energy solution through the development of functionalised silica nanoparticles within an aqueous solution that can be incorporated into a water-based ink for printing on to textiles. Functionalised silica (silicon dioxide) nanoparticles play a key role in providing superhydrophobic properties by manipulating the natural surface roughness of the textile microstructure fibres with selectively designed surface chemistry. This provides the uplift required from superhydrophobic performance at the nanoscale level without the use of PFOS. The expertise of the consortium and the supply-chain in place will propel the development into the technical textiles market.Awaiting Public Project Summary

Ever more stringent emissions standards for the automotive sector have greatly encouraged both increased fuel efficiency and a move towards electric vehicles (EV). A very important aspect of both fuel efficiency and EV range (distance travelled per battery charge) is weight. For every 100kg weight saving achieved in a vehicle leads to a reduction in CO2 emission of 20g/km. Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (CFRPs) are one of the lightest high strength materials in the world. Historically, high costs and labour-intensive manufacture has prevented widespread use of parts made from CFRP in the high-volume automotive market. However, over the past decade the costs for automotive grade carbon fibre has reduced from the £65 per kg ($35 per pound) to circa £20 per kg ($12 per pound). These changes are driving growth, with CFRP usage in the global automotive market expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2018 to 2023. As production volumes grow, inspection of these parts will need to be faster and more efficient. Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods are therefore vital to ensuring the integrity of any parts built using these materials, in both the manufacturing and after-market environments. However, no single NDE technique is currently ideally suited for quantitative measurement of all the various defect types. The TACOMA project will deliver the next generation NDE systems for the CFRP automotive market. TACOMA uses advanced patented X-ray tomography, first developed for use in the medical sector. Our patented "direct conversion" X-ray technology has also been demonstrated in high-speed applications within the food inspection sector. The TACOMA project will be used to adapt and further develop the technology for automotive parts and CFRP defects.

"C4 Carbides innovative saw blade development program will use Selective Laser Melting (SLM), a metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology, to fuse super-abrasive powder to form tooling grade hard materials into net shape 'sharp' cutting teeth, eliminating the needs of post process grinding. UK patents for this concept have been filed. Compared to conventional tungsten carbide tipped (TCT) saw blades, the AM process create high performance cutting teeth for specialist applications tailored to customer specifications. The digital manufacturing process enable C4 meeting challenging design changes and fast respond to customer's requirements. SLM allows material saving of 70-80% and energy and production savings of over 50%, as compared to conventional TCT blade manufacturing. To ensure the success of the AM tooth formation innovation, four key elements are crucial: 1. Identifying and developing the use of high performance super-hard materials by SLM. 2. New optimised tooth designs for additive manufacturing. 3. Process innovation in aligning and precisely forming super-hard teeth on continuous preformed strip. 4. Technology scale up for serial production. A new range of cutting tool geometries can be offered, and specific customer requirements for new materials and designs can be made the same day. We aim to transform the linear edge market within 5 years of successful completion of this project."

Using pultrusion to manufacture wind turbine (WT) components -- such as spar caps -- will make operations significantly more efficient and will enable the development of much larger WT blades. Wind energy continues to grow in importance, generating 3.5% (960TWh) of the total electricity produced worldwide in 2018 - up from 0.8% in 2008. The UK -- with 57TWh (17%) of total electricity generated -- is leading figure in the industry. In 2018 the UK started running the world's largest offshore wind farm -- the £1 billion Walney wind farm off the coast of Cumbria, which generates enough energy to power 600,000 homes. This fantastic progress is made possible because wind energy is getting ever cheaper due to advances in the WT supply chain and life cycles. The main factor is that WT blades are getting larger and taller. GE Renewable Energy announced a turbine blade over a 100m long. They were only 50m long five years ago. Larger blades harvest more wind power and taller structures are subject to stronger and more constant winds. This improves their power harvesting capacity and availability of energy; this dramatically reduces the wind energy cost (UK offshore: £150/kWh in 2015 down to £57.5kWh today). However, larger blades present their own technical challenges: chiefly the stresses that blades and the supporting structures experience. Advanced composites technologies are becoming critical in wind turbine blades production. Pultrusion is a continuous manufacturing process for polymer composites where the part/profile formed is pulled through a heated die. Pultrusion improves the efficiency of manufacturing blade components, lowers costs and improves composite quality. Weight savings and stronger parts have a positive knock-on effect as it allows other components such as gear boxes, the nacelle and tower to be downsized. The spar cap is a key structural element inside a WT blade. They run along both sides of the blade to provide crucial reinforcement and take-up most of the mechanical load. The industry is turning to pultrusion based manufacturing, however pultrusion currently only represents 5% of the composite parts produced. HIPPAC aims to improve the spar cap pultrusion process by developing a digital tool to allow for the rapid design of the pultrusion line prior implementation, in-line quality control and improved process control in a tailored and original way. This will enable the production of more cost-effective stronger and lighter parts.

Icing represents a complex and expensive problem in different industrial and energy applications -- aircraft, wind turbines, power lines -- causing incidents and severe accidents. The main mitigation methods rely on mechanical breaking of the ice, electrical heating, and de-icing chemicals. These are expensive, inefficient, unreliable, and environmentally harmful. The aim of the ICELIP project is to develop a passive ice-repellent coating which also provides adequate durability for aircraft applications. This will have impacts not only in aviation, but also in other sectors (other transport: rail, maritime, automotive, and energy: wind turbines, power lines). The main benefits include: increased safety by 4%, more environmentally friendly products (avoiding discharge of 100 million litres of de-icing fluids and cutting emissions of 80million tonnes of CO2 by reducing aircraft weight and, thus, fuel consumption), more cost-efficient products (saving £7bn/year in fuel), and improved energy efficiency (e.g. increasing wind energy production by 20%). The ICELIP project is based on previous R&D work of part of the consortium, focused on the development of an ice-repellent coating comprising nano-additives incorporated in a standard aerospace clear coat. The coating system showed an outstanding combination of ice-repellency and durability (TRL 3-4) which will need further development and testing in order to be suitable for the aerospace market.

Vital to any NDT inspection is pinpointing the precise location of the defects found. Advanced inspections, such as phased array or full matrix capture, need the precise location of the sensor as it is moved during the inspection. This is to allow the data collected to be viewed as a map or 3D segment. The odometry of the robot or probe is handled by an encoder. An encoder is a transducer that sense the position or orientation for use as a reference or even as a feedback to control position. If these advanced techniques are to be used in potentially explosive environments, such as the oil and gas industry, then ATEX certification is a pre-requisite. ATEX certification demonstrates component/system suitability for use in an explosive environment. Current ATEX encoders are not suitable for NDT applications as they are bulky and have a very high torque that necessitates some force to enable the shaft to rotate and the encoder to record precise position. They can also be prone to slippage which may affect the position of the robot or probe, especially in an environment where hydrocarbons are present. ATEX environment: explosive atmospheres can be caused by flammable gases, mists or vapours or by combustible dusts. In these environments the smallest source of ignition such as a spark or a hot surface can cause an explosion resulting in significant damages, serious injuries and loss of life. Using the correct equipment can prevent this. In some circumstances, these environments must be entered to work or inspect. The equipment used in these environments must be ATEX certified -- designed and certified to prevent any explosions and not become a potential source of ignition. The goal of the project is to develop an ATEX-certified contactless magnetic encoder. Physically, the new encoder will much shorter than the conventional designs. Eliminating of the need for a mechanical coupling (via a shaft) further reduces overall package size and will considerably reduce the encoder torque. That means it will be much easier to integrate the new encoder into applications where space is an important factor, it will be appropriate to NDT applications, the potential for accidental damage to the encoder in challenging industrial environments will be significantly reduced.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

"UTC Aerospace Systems is a leader in advanced systems to the aerospace market and is delighted to have received this investment. The funding allows development of new technology for its ""Future Factory"" concept for high value systems, directly benefiting the UK.This project, _Flexible_ _& Adaptive Assembly Automation_ _of_ _Actuation_ _Systems,_ is based around innovative factory technologies that will enable the following objectives to be realised:Adaptable to distributed architecture if required by air framers. * Development of Adaptive & Flexible Automation Manufacturing Cells * Real-time adaptive workflow monitoring and simulations of the value chain * Leverage of Product eDNA in assembly/test * Design for Automation"

Canadian SME Direct-C have developed a novel nano-composite sensor material that can be configured to detect temperature, stress/strain/cracking and directly detect chemical exposure. The company are in close collaboration with end-users in the aerospace and oil and gas industries to develop applications for hydrocarbon leak detection and structural monitoring. A unique feature of the Direct-C technology is that it can be applied as a “paint” over large areas or long lengths making it particularly well-suited for the target applications in pipeline leak monitoring and structural monitoring of large areas such as aircraft wings. This is currently developed to small-scale flexible printed sensors (WrapSense™) and needs to be scaled up to meet the needs of the target markets. In this project, Direct-C will partner with UK SME specialists in printed circuit technology Trackwise who have developed capability for printing large-scale (up to 30 m) flexible multilayer PCBs as well as wireless PCB technology. The SME partners will be supported by research organisation TWI, specialists in development, testing and standardisation of sensor systems with specialisation in oil and gas and aerospace industries. TWI will provide specialist facilities for characterisation and testing.

The EDGETECT2 project will take findings from a previously funded feasibility study and develop new technical solutions to the pervasive problem of edge corrosion of fabricated steel products. Applying coatings over sharp edges typically results in the film pulling away during drying/curing due to surface tension effects. This leads to inadequate corrosion protection and rusting of the underlying substrate. Problems can be compounded if the coated surface still contains oxides from the hot rolled feedstock material, with corrosion rapidly penetrating under coating layers. Despite this effect being a well-known problem in the coatings industry, most commonly used laser cutting processes are optimised for cutting speed and result in highly sharp edges. No in-line technique exists to produce an edge geometry suitable for final coating and often manual edge-dressing processes are simply too costly in a production environment. Additionally, most steel fabrications are still shot blasted prior to coating to remove oxide scales. This process is line-of-sight and cannot adequately clean complex or thin-walled fabrications. This project will develop novel approaches to both edge and surface preparation with the ability to provide a step change in the prevention of edge corrosion.

The turbo-charger market continues to grow at a CAGR of 10% as manufacturers design leaner and more fuel efficient engines. This technology will be the largest contributor to reducing CO2 emissions in vehicles (worldwide) for at least the next decade. This project will boost the productivity of production equipment for this market, an important export market for Aquasium Technologies (AQ) that will be worth \>£15m per year in 2022\. The PlasMan2 project will build on a previous feasibility study to adopt a novel electron beam (EB) welding gun technology for the production of turbo-chargers. The project will build and test a system and provide the necessary bridge to allow integration of the technology. The operational data collected will be used to quantify the benefits of adopting the technology and will be used to promote sales of the equipment against more conventional competitors, and emerging laser welding machines. We will also investigate and assess the potential for using the technology in new emerging markets of additive manufacturing (various markets), thick-section welding (for off-shore wind and nuclear energy) and vacuum melting (precious metal recycling). The technical capability of being able to rapidly pulse the electron beam and much higher consistency output are particularly suited to these markets. The additional work planned is that equipment at TWI will be upgraded to allow demonstration of the Plasman2 smart machine technology to industries other than the original target (automotive), such as aerospace, power and medical sectors. This will involve additional hardware and software developments by ATS. TWI will be carrying out the demonstration work package requiring machine operators, application engineers and weld/AM quality engineers. TWI will also host an industry demonstration day. These activities will promote the Plasman2 technology developments to a wider industrial base than was previously planned.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

The project’s goal is to investigate and develop innovative approaches to nuclear power station design that will enable the development of a new type of nuclear power station that can provide electricity at rates competitive with other technologies such as renewables and Gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The project focusses on incorporating the latest digital technologies, factory production processes and waste reduction systems into an integrated design development programme. This project will act as proof of concept that the resulting power station design would meet societal, environmental, technical and commercial requirements. The consortium of 10 organisations delivering the project are targeting successful delivery of this initial phase of work within 16 months. Upon successful completion of this project, the consortium intends to continue development of the novel small modular nuclear power station design; with the expressed goal of deploying a fleet of these cost effective, low-carbon power stations through the 2030s and 2040s both in the UK and around the world. Ultimately, this will enable the UK to meet its carbon reduction goals, address the global climate change challenge and access an export market worth in excess of £200Bn by the 2030s. Successful delivery of this project will yield technologies, processes and tools that are also applicable to other novel power station designs, such as advanced modular reactors (AMR), future fusion programmes and other major infrastructure programmes.

Battery technology across the broad range of challenging battery electric vehicle (BEV) applications is yet to reach a level of maturation enabling significant commonality of designs and components. As well as being isolated from battery design and development (D&D), the embryonic UK and global Tier 1/Tier 2 supply chain is highly fragmented, and fails to meet critical OEM requirements for: 1) cost-performance competitiveness with ICE-powered variants; and 2) quality-assured series manufacturing capacity and flexibility to meet diverse product variety requirements. High-performance battery cost/kWh remain 4-times higher than industry targets for cost-parity. Over 70% of these costs arise from non-cell-related components and manufacturing. Mutually-dependent commercial and technical barriers exist across product design, pack production and the UK Tier 2 component supply base. Hyperbat response The H1perChain project targets a step-change in high-performance battery cost, and readiness for flexible series production volumes. H1perChain will realise a novel digital manufacturing platform, to concurently address scalability and manufacturing technology developments across the supply chain. H1perChain represents a significant step towards Industry 4.0 digital transformation, with delivery of an architecture to digitally integrate the end-to-end product lifecycle across the full value chain. Effective capture of all application and manufacturing cost sensitivities at system down to component level, will provide unprecedented capability for detailed, accurate and dynamic cost-modelling across key supply chain functions. Digitally integrating live manufacturing data into D&D workflows H1perChain enables multi-dimensional cost-reduction strategies by precisely informing complex inter-related developments across battery engineering and design-to-cost, Tier 1 assembly, Tier 2 component supply moving into through-life aspects. Innovation outcomes Objectives align with phased business processes (tendering, product D&D and procurement planning), targeting pre-commercial validation on a representative OEM pipeline programme, with full-scale series produced launch programmes within 1-year of APC12 completion: Digitalisation platform: architecture for data capture across the product lifecycle/value chain and design-for-manufacture feedback; model development and integration Battery design and engineering: 3-D model parameterisation; native BEV architectures (e.g. flat-floor structural packs); volume-dependent design-for-manufacturing feedback (component-level, impact of different cell geometries) Business process development: OEM application and design/integration inputs to D&D; cost-modelling of application-specific component/assembly-level cost-sensitivity, and integration into tendering process Digital twins (Hyperbat facility and battery): design, virtual commissioning, live manufacturing and ongoing data capture Series pack production: automated module/pack assembly; cell joining; in-line testing Tier 2 scale-up: volume-dependent cost-reduction planning; internal make-or-buy decision for each component (Hyperbat/Unipart). Component/manufacturing process development; QA Services: feedback of in-use data into manufacturing; down-stream supplier integration

The use of composite materials in aerospace manufacture is accelerating fast, with the most modern aircraft in the world's fleet now more than 50% composite materials. These new-generation aeroplanes are lighter, more fuel-efficient, and so more profitable, as well as significantly reducing CO2 emissions compared to traditional aluminium planes. However, composite materials are much more expensive to produce, partly because they are not yet as well-understood as metals, so the industry spends millions every year slowly inspecting each part for flaws before it is deemed safe enough to take its place in an aircraft, and inspecting composite components is not easy. Carbon fibre composite is in many ways an ideal material for aerospace construction, being less dense than aluminium, with a greater stiffness-to-weight ratio. It does not corrode and it is less susceptible to fatigue. Carbon fibre components can be moulded directly into their required geometry, reducing the need for vulnerable bonded areas. But there is also the possibility of introducing weakened areas when constructing the material itself - fibres can break or move out of alignment, layers can separate, gaps can open up, and this can all happen invisibly, deep within the internal structure of the material, weakening it and leading to unexpected failure. Manufacturers need techniques to inspect the internal structure of their carbon fibre components and CFLUX is designed to do just that. The inspiration comes from traditional eddy current non-destructive testing techniques that have been used for aluminium aircraft. These are fast and effective for finding hidden flaws but rely on the good conductivity of metals. Carbon fibre is 1000 times less conductive than aluminium, making eddy current testing impossible, until now. The CFLUX consortium have developed innovative sensor technology that can give sensitivities 1000 times greater than before, retrieving high-quality, high-resolution signals that were previously unachievable. Not only that, but this technology is tiny, making it easy to develop into multi-sensor arrays that are resilient, flexible and ideal for use in the production-line robotics necessary to really speed up and reduce the cost of the inspection process. Robotic inspections using CFLUX are expected to be more than 30 times faster than current processes, reducing inspection costs from £1,292 to just £72 for a single 34m2 composite component. This supports the aerospace industry in its drive for safe aircraft that are lighter, more cost-efficient, and have a reduced impact on our environment.

AFRICHAR will develop and evaluate, at feasibility level, an integrated transportable system to obtain combined electrical power and heat from managed coppice and agricultural waste in African countries, initially Mozambique. The project will evaluate conversion of woody biomass into char, high grade heat and pyro-gas which can be burned directly as fuel or used for electrical power generation. This makes clean, affordable, sustainable energy locally available in rural communities. 10-20kWe will be generated, alongside various grades of heat to serve rural communities with electricity, hot water and food processing for preservation.

"Metelled conceives a new method in additive manufacturing (AM) creating both new exploitation strategies and employment opportunities. It could offer a new avenue to the applicability and diversity that metal AM technology offers. New larger scale deposition, with micro features, optimal energy management and low cost production will be possible using the process. The Metelled project uses atomic layer deposition to construct 3D structures. The rapid deposition process is used to produce kilo tonnes of high purity metals in other industries. Low temperature processing is possible because there is no melting of metal, therefore residual stresses are minimised, inclusions and porosity are eliminated. The Metelled process consumes feedstock is lump metal instead of powders. All the components can be recycled within the equipment, and no expensive shielding gases are required or vented. This feasibility study constructs a deposition cell to study laser effects on linear deposition through glass. The innovation arises because the process is: * The lowest energy method to produce a metallic part from a raw ore. * The deposition process is low energy and low temperature. * Chamber build volumes can be large. * Low residual stress may eliminate post-processing costs and energy. * Easy to handle lump feedstock is used instead of powders. * Quick change of feedstocks gives a plug-and-play approach. * Fine resolution, from atomic level deposition. * Wide area deposition also possible. * Homogeneous X, Y, Z strength. * Rapid z height deposition."

"UK policy targets 15% green power generation by 2020 and 57% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2030\. This has led to a significant growth in installed wind power capacity within the last decade (especially in offshore wind power in the UK) to 18.9 GW in the UK and 539 GW globally. The UK market has multiplied 10-fold, supplying 5.4% of the UK's electricity consumption in 2016\. Turbine blades are subjected to gusting wind loads, driving the accumulation of fatigue damage in the blade structures, leading to failures. Around 3,800 blade failures a year are attributed to poor maintenance. Preventative inspection every 3-4 months and maintenance every 6 months is necessary, costing between £70,000 and £700,000 each. Accidents and fatalities are also quite prevalent: 2,265 accidents to June 2018, with fatalities accounting for 6% and injuries 7%. This phase 2 further develops RADBLAD, a first-of-its-kind magnetically-adhering wall-climbing robot, with manipulator arm that deploys the x-ray system around a blade. An end effector holds the source and detector against the blade, so they move with the blade in the presence of 3-D blade vibrations. A crucial and novel extension of RADBLAD lies in the use of a radiographic system for inspection and in providing an integrated solution that offers high-quality, efficient inspection method, which is human safe. Unlike radiography, RADBLAD does not require costly, time-consuming onshore dismantling of blades and transportation to workshop, inspection in x-ray bays and return and reassembly, taking around 10-days during which revenue is lost due to generating downtime. Contact methods, e.g. ultrasound volume inspection, are less effective on multi-layered composite structures, and more difficult to perform on-site. RADBLAD is also faster and cheaper than onshore inspection (not counting loss of revenue due to turbine downtime). To successfully achieve this, the project consortium features the relevant expertise, including robotic development and manufacture, radiography development, and AI algorithm software development. Our initial target market is the offshore wind turbine operation and maintenance market, with wind farm asset operators the target users. This project represents a clear technological innovation for the UK offshore wind generation industry, and major growth opportunity for the SME supply chain consortium."

"Hard chrome plating is widespread through many industrial sectors due to its excellent combination of hardness and low friction combined with corrosion and wear resistance. The manufacturing process however requires the use of hazardous chromium salts which give rise to health and environmental concerns, leading to an uncertain long-term future due to legislative changes such as REACH. Electrodeposited metal matrix nanocomposites (MMNCs) have the potential to make a significant improvement to surface properties such as increased microhardness and inherent lubricity. The development of nanotechnology over the last 25 years means that there are now a multitude of nanoparticles, nanowires and nano-tubes in a wide range materials, hence the scope for new nanocomposite coatings is greater than ever. Recent work at Leicester University has resulted in demonstration of the process across a range of coating compositions. This enables the production of strengthened coatings, with the potential to develop a coating with functional performance equivalent to hard chrome. Working as a consortium, the present project is taking the work forward to validate the capability with partners JCB, PPUK, NMB Minebea and Weir Valves and Controls for a wide range of industrial applications. Additionally, the technology will be made more broadly available through Tewkesbury Diamond Chrome Plating which provides electroplating services to industry, and through TWI with its network of over 700 industrial members."

"Multi-materials assemblies are designed and joined together to achieve the best performance for specific applications and specific working environments. These assemblies combine the advantages of each material into an advanced structure, capable of working in heterogeneous and harsh conditions. Dissimilar material assemblies are highly functional, save material resources and enable significant weight reduction, which is fundamental for breaking down fuel consumption and CO2 emissions (major targets for the transport industry). However, joining metallurgically incompatible metal alloys or CFRP composites to metal alloys is challenging and often beyond the capacity of a conventional automated production processes. Currently, most challenging multi-materials assemblies are mechanically fastened and/or adhesive bonded. Limitations associated to using these two techniques include extra weight, cost and durability issues. These drawbacks limit the adoption of more advanced multi-material joining applications and reduce potential benefits of optimised designs. Consequently, there is a clear need for new, flexible, cost-effective and rapid methods for joining dissimilar materials, capable of meeting industry performance and manufacturing demands. _ULTIMATE_ focuses on the development of an innovative technology to enable highly dissimilar materials to be fusion welded together using highly productive industrial processes. The _ULTIMATE_ project will primarily focus on dissimilar material combinations of interest to the transport sector, including dissimilar metallic materials, and composite to metallic material joints. Case studies and technology demonstrators will be produced for the aerospace and automotive sectors, although the technology has the potential to be highly versatile and applied to many different applications across other industry sectors."

Laser processing can enable higher productivity in manufacturing aerospace structures. However, the lack of large-scale, cost-effective manipulator has limited the applicability of the process – LaserTAU will address this by combining laser processing with the ‘TAU’ robot platform.

"OSIRIS is a highly innovative robotic solution for the detailed inspection of offshore wind turbine blades. It alleviates the risks imposed on workers, who typically carry out this task manually under hazardous conditions. OSIRIS combines the best features of drones and climbing robots, without their notable limitations. Drones offer flexible stand-off inspection, but their utility is limited by an inability to achieve secure contact with structures, ruling out contact-based Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques capable of resolving sub-surface damage. Climbing robots offer constant contact with the target structure, but access to turbine blades requires placement and retrieval by a human, obviating the risk alleviation benefits. OSIRIS operates as both a drone and a climbing robot, with an ability to transition between the two modes, and therefore offers the benefits of each without the inherent limitations. OSIRIS can operate in close proximity to a turbine blade to obtain high definition stand-off imagery, attach and transition to climbing mode for contact based NDT, and then detach and return to drone mode. This 21-month demonstrator project brings together robotics specialist Autonomous Devices with end user Wood (a major provider of products and services to the oil and gas, power generation, clean energy, chemical, petrochemical and manufacturing sectors), materials and NDT expert The Welding Institute, and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (as a demonstration partner providing access to an experimental 7MW offshore turbine at Levenmouth). Although our innovation targets the offshore wind turbine blade inspection application, there is real potential to read the technology across to adjacent markets. The global nature of all anticipated markets means that OSIRIS has high export potential."

"**Project vision** The Multi-Platform Inspection, Maintenance & Repair in extreme environments (MIMRee) project will introduce a step-change in the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of offshore wind farms by removing humans from the loop during the inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) of offshore wind turbine blades. The aim is to significantly reduce the costs and turbine downtime associated with these tasks and reduce the H&S risks of using rope access technicians. In this project, the multi autonomous platform approach will be demonstrated for a use case in offshore renewables; however, the developed autonomous vehicle surface vessel hub, Human-Machine Interface (HMI), robotic teaming and communications, and automated mission planning will also have applications in the offshore Oil & Gas, Search and Rescue and Defense sectors. **Key objectives** * Remove the need to send humans offshore to carry out wind turbine blade IMR tasks; * Remove the need to shut wind turbines down to carry out blade inspections; * Reduce the risk of using autonomous vehicles offshore to carry out asset IMR tasks; * Safely demonstrate a fully autonomous approach to blade IMR tasks in real-world operating conditions; * Establish the business case for using autonomous vehicles for blade IMR; * Develop a roadmap for transferring the MIMRee system to other relevant industries. **Main areas of focus** The developed MIMRee system will comprise of an Autonomous Surface Vessel (ASV) with capabilities to autonomously transport, charge and deploy UAVs and blade IMR robots at offshore wind farms. The UAVs will be developed to both autonomously inspect wind turbine blades and deploy blade IMR robots on stationary wind turbine blades. The blade IMR robot will be developed to conduct both autonomous NDT inspections and maintenance and repairs of wind turbine blades. Two-way communication with the ASV and on-board autonomous vehicles will be enabled by a HMI, enabling an onshore operator to both view gathered inspection data and issue automatically generated IMR mission plans. A novel sensor will be developed which can record images of moving wind turbine blades, which could be integrated with the UAVs and/or ASV. All technologies will be tested, validated and demonstrated in representative real-world conditions. **Project team** The project is led by Plant Integrity Limited who are collaborating with Thales UK Limited, Wootzano Limited, BladeBug Limited, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, University of Manchester, University of Bristol, Royal Holloway University of London and Royal College of Art to develop and demonstrate a prototype version of the MIMRee."

"Structural steel is the material of choice in the vast majority of structures in coastal and offshore locations due its combination of durability, ease of fabrication and ability to provide a relatively cost-effective solution. Despite its many benefits, steel is of course prone to corrosion, which is the principal cause of deterioration of steel waterfront structures. However, it has recently been acknowledged that steel piles are significantly more prone to advanced corrosion rates than previously understood. What is now known, is that ALWC (Accelerated-Low-Water-Corrosion) can rapidly compromise the integrity of affected structures and will lead to significant costs for repair or replacement, with major implications for safe operation. PileSense is an innovative solution for corrosion sensing in steel piles, in particular, those sited in marine environments. It is a remote sensing system and that offers rapid and smart assessment of steel piles. Our solution overcomes limitations in state-of-the-art inspection and monitoring systems, which are rudimentary and labour intensive. Protective coatings on the other hand are proven to be unpractical both from an application and maintenance perspective. PileSense will revolutionise the detection of corrosion and defects in steel pile infrastructure for maintenance operators across the globe."

"The problem of persistent plastic waste and lack of adequate recycling solutions poses a significant challenge to current and future generations. As the amount of plastic placed on market (POM) continues to increase, the amount we recycle is failing to make tangible inroads into curbing the amount of end-of-life plastic POM being disposed (landfill, incineration, lost to the environment) e.g. 62% of plastic packaging (1.3m tonnes per year) annually never gets recycled. Although there is not one main cause or solution to this problem, there are insufficient market applications in the UK suitable for lower grade plastic recyclates. The PROMOTE project will take advantage of lower grade waste plastic as part of a world's first solution capable of exploiting a significant global opportunity: the rehabilitation of deteriorated underground piping and drainage infrastructure, a market worth in excess £7.71billion. Our solution will achieve step-change performance over CIPP (Cure in Place Polymer), the market's current leading solution."

"An increasing global population and a difficulty in attracting sufficient numbers of workers from with the current EU is a direct threat to affordable and secure supply for the UK. In order to address this challenge, the agricultural and food manufacturing sectors are increasingly using technology to address the shortfall in labour availability. The suppliers and packers are the nexus between growers and retailers, which in the UK, deal with £13billion worth of fresh produce annually, 70% of which is sourced and imported by the supply and pack industry to meet consumer demand. Any perturbation in this flow of safe nutritious food will have severe consequences for human health and wellbeing. Robotic manipulation is the ""holy grail"" for fresh produce packing e.g. fruits and vegetables, which tend to be delicate objects with irregular shapes. This sector is dominated by manual labour, because of the need for intricate human handling and inspection skills; this intervention is required for the selection of unblemished product that consumers expect and demand all year round. In such applications, a sense of touch in the end-effector (robot-gripper) is critical. Unfortunately, robotic manipulator systems do not yet possess this capability. Current state-of-the-art systems essentially act open-loop, without the ability to successfully grasp an object if the mechanical interaction between the end-effector and the grasped object is not well predicted; such is the case with the handling of fresh produce. The consortium will develop **Robo-Pack**, an advanced robotic manipulator for the inspection and packing of fresh produce, initially targeting tomatoes. **Robo-Pack** builds upon proprietary tactile sensing and robot manipulation technology systems."

Pressure vessels are considered safety critical infrastructure and are present across many industries such as oil and gas, nuclear, petrochemical etc. Assuring the safety of these ageing assets is increasingly important for these industries as there have been many fatal failures in the past. Internal pressure vessel inspection has significant cost and health and safety risk associated with it and is required at specific intervals by industry codes/standards. In order to carry out internal inspection, the operator must; stop production, depressurise, store extracted fluid, vent etc. The total cost associated with these activities can easily exceed £1M within a few days depending on the production facility. More importantly, these tasks are currently carried out by humans and the hazardous environments have led to many injuries/fatalities. It is not possible for humans to carry out inspection on these assets without breaking containment, the only way to do so, is via robotics and artificial intelligence. CHIMERA is a semi-autonomous robotic platform for internal pressure vessel inspection, repair and maintenance. It will be deployed into the pressure vessel without breaking containment via an innovative bolt on headworks. It will be equipped with a sludge/sediment vacuum to clean the pressure vessel, an ultrasonic phased array inspection system and a slender arm for inspection and repair in confined spaces. To successfully deliver this, a consortium of experts has been formed with capabilities in robotics, inspection, navigation, in situ repair, AI, civil nuclear and oil and gas. There are close ties between the consortium and the targeted industries, providing a direct route to market/exploitation. CHIMERA represents a clear technological innovation for the UK pressure vessel inspection market with a major growth opportunity for the SME supply chain in the consortium.

This project seeks to solve the current compromise between information and speed existing within phased array ultrasonic testing, which is restricting uptake of technological advancements in non-destructive testing applications. This project will develop a system which offers users maximum flexibility, to improve productivity and help prevent against unplanned shutdowns.

The recent boom in wearable and Internet of Things technology, such as smart sensors, fitness watches, has not yet reached its full potential due to one component restricting further development: the battery source. As a result, devices often have bulky batteries, must be plugged in frequently or use workarounds such as spare batteries, fast charging or smart software. State-of-the-art flexible batteries, such as lithium-ion, vacuum-deposited lithium, or zinc batteries each have their advantages and disadvantages. Lithium-ion batteries are cheap to produce, but relatively thick and do not have high power suitable for some wearable or smart packaging applications. Lithium batteries can be very thin, but are more expensive, and have even less energy capacity than lithium-ion. Zinc batteries are very cheap, have a higher energy capacity than lithium-ion, but are only suitable for low power. These constraints all limit the flexibility and form-factor (shape) of batteries for devices. Furthermore, lithium-ion, lithium and zinc batteries utilise carbon collectors and electrodes which, although contributing to the batteries' light weight, limits their electrical conductivity. Replacing the carbon parts with metal would increase the conductivity (and hence power) but crucially increases corrosion that results from the chemical reactions within the battery. This limits the battery power and life time. The **FLEXIBAT** project will develop a novel single-use battery for electronic wearables and Internet of Things devices, based on zinc-carbon chemistry and metal collectors. The focus of the development is on a special corrosion protective layer for the metal collectors and electrodes using graphene, which will enable a thinner, more flexible and a higher energy battery. We will ultimately develop a technology demonstrator prototype of the full battery system and test it in a controlled environment. To successfully achieve this, the project consortium features the relevant expertise for making the battery, including battery manufacture, materials development, graphene coating, and flexible integrated circuit development and manufacture.

With the advent of new emerging and enabling technologies e.g. big data analytics, machine learning, internet of things, intelligent sensors and cloud computing, the approach to maintenance of assets is changing. The advanced augmented approach offers the possibility of performing prescriptive maintenance that offers significant advantages over using traditional (descriptive), preventive, or predictive models individually. Traditional maintenance tends to be reactive-responding to failures in equipment or devices after the fact. This traditional, reactive approach of describing failures after they've occurred is the worst-case scenario for maintenance: reacting to failures in equipment or devices after the fact. Preventive maintenance empowers operators to carry out continuous maintenance. Prescriptive maintenance goes beyond the realm of descriptive, preventive, and predictive maintenance. Descriptive focuses on what happened in the past. Preventive maintenance is time based. Predictive analytics discovers potential options for the future. Prescriptive maintenance leverages all these approaches and capabilities. The realm of what should happen and the execution of optimized maintenance strategies is precisely the realm of prescriptive maintenance. The DiMOS project proposes a prescriptive maintenance digital platform for condition monitoring and maintenance planning of ship's structure, engine machinery and auxiliary system by real-time sensor data and AI-based models to prescribe maintenance based on monitored condition and taking into account risk level, maintenance timing and associated cost. The main application of the DiMOS platform will include (1) Real-time continuous condition monitoring, diagnostic and failure analysis of ships engine machinery, structure and auxiliary systems. (2) Risk-based inspection analysis and provision of critical parts identification of ships components, 3) Detailed prescriptive maintenance of ships components based on condition, time, risk and cost etc. _The proposed platform will; (1) reduce reliance on experienced and expert inspection engineers to process condition monitoring data and devise a maintenance plan(2) it will reduce interpretation time in devising and implementing maintenance actions reducing maintenance hours by 70% (3) it will automate safety or maintenance operations to the extent where maintenance operations don't require human intervention (4)it will reduce assets unscheduled downtime by 25%, cost by 35% and will improve performance and efficiency of asset (5) it will allow operators to perform cost-effective maintenance on the basis of risk profile of faults detected._ The DiMOS project development is being done based on the collaboration of different partners including Vibtek, ICON, Relmar, KCC, TWI, and BUL.

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) offer companies a potential reliable and safe solution to support their operations by accessing areas that are otherwise too difficult, without extensive manpower and support. Although rapid gains have been made in this field of technology, there remains the need to carry out advanced contact non-destructive testing (NDT) in order for UAS systems to truly become the primary method of facility inspection and monitoring of large civil infrastructure. Currently, the sensor equipment being produced for use with UAS are limited to a range of imaging equipment such as video cameras through to thermal imaging cameras, surveying and mapping technology. As a result, human inspections coupled with advanced sensing systems are still required in parallel with the UAS system, especially for critical infrastructure inspections. As a result, UAS inspection systems are not realising their performance potential, and therefore unable to deliver productivity increases and cost savings. The address this problem, the project consortium will develop an unmanned Aerial SyStem for Advanced contact Inspection (ASSAI). The ASSAI system will be initially tailored of civil structures, in particular bridges, but can be considered a platform technology with a wide range of potential future applications. The project will deliver significant productivity increases for our customers, and provide exciting growth to the industrial partners in the project.

"CROWN 2 builds on a previously-funded project (CROWN) that aims to completely change the way offshore wind foundations are protected from corrosion. While a well-established and robust solution is to use a paint and galvanic anode approach, protection lifetime is limited by paint degradation and anode mass. Such systems are also expensive to manufacture, install and maintain. The consortium will be investigating whether a single coating of aluminium, applied to the surface by arc-spraying, can replace paint and anodes entirely. If successful, such a coating would lower the cost of wind energy, by removing bottlenecks in the manufacture of wind turbine foundations and eliminating a significant amount of secondary steelwork that has to be expensively welded by skilled professionals."

"Defects can inadvertently be produced in composite materials either during the manufacturing process or during the normal service life of the component. Some non-destructive testing methods such as ultrasonic testing and strain gauging exist for defect detection in composites. However, these have limitations (including cost) that have prevented them being used extensively. Notwithstanding, the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) UK Composites Strategy, insists that the UK needs to focus on advancing composites reliability and increase market share of existing sectors and ensure the use of composites in new sectors"" This project therefore seeks to develop GRAPHOSITE (A Graphene Sensor for Defect Detection and Predictive Maintenance in Composite Materials for use as a highly efficient, more convenient composite monitoring tool). Our technology will be based on an enhanced graphene-substrate interaction, with the ability to embed within a composite strucutre. The successful exploitation of the technology will result in cumulative revenue of £103m after 6 years in the market."

"The Government's recently announced UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations focuses on delivering cleaner air in the shortest time possible that will enable the UK to become a global leader in air quality. The forthcoming Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill will drive necessary infrastructure changes to support rapid update of electric vehicles. Light commercial vehicles (LCVs) are one of the fastest growing market segments driven by more sophisticated online shopping behaviours and increasing options for customer collection. The proliferation of last mile delivery vehicles is no coincidence as retailers find innovative ways of attracting consumers. To satisfy cleaner air requirements, delivery vehicles will need to reduce their emissions. Nissan, Ceres Power and The Welding Institute (TWI) have created a collaborative industrial R&D project consortium. This consortium aims to demonstrate a compact, high power density, low emission solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with Nissan leading system design for range extension of light commercial electric vehicles (LCEV) such as the Nissan e-NV200\. With a goal to double the range of the demonstrator BEV to over 600km, the consortium will offer an innovative solution to electric vehicle range extension. This solution minimises impact on payload or capacity whilst maximising the potential to increase time spent making deliveries and generating revenue. Within a Nissan designed range extender module suitable for operation with a variety of high efficiency fuel types (including biofuels), the project scope will involve the design, build, test and demonstration of a compact, robust, fast-response, UK produced SOFC stack. The project looks to raise the market attractiveness of EV by doubling LCEV range to enable long periods of operation without electrical recharge from the grid. This highly disruptive approach supports the UK's move towards greater use of electric vehicles and access, on an equal footing, the 1.4 million annual EU sales of light commercial vehicles. Furthermore, the wider scale adoption of LCEVs makes significant progress towards the UK's 2030-50 low carbon energy targets. The project will grow the skills and capabilities of UK engineers and technicians for design, build and testing of SOFC stack and systems."

"TIG welding is a commonly used joining technique for fabricating metal structures across a range of industries. However, it currently has a number of limitations, principally (i) it's heavily reliant on highly-skilled manual welding experts (which are expensive and in very short supply) and (ii) it lacks flexibility to automate the welding of complex geometries. Adaptive AUTOmated TIG welding (AutoTIG) aims to develop an adaptive and automated closed loop controlled TIG welding system. The project will take state-of-the-art knowledge in welding and adaptive control, and combine this with a process head with a range integrated sensors. Sensors will be used to establish welding paths and vision systems will collect and analyse images of the weldpool for real time adaptive control. Combining sensor data and process knowledge is an innovative approach which we believe will provide a solution to overcome the barriers to robotic TIG welding This will enable a demonstration system to address, monitor and control: the full welding process leading to a high-productivity and low-defect rate TIG welding process."

'The World Economic Forum predicts water scarcity will become an increasingly major global risk over the next decade. Non-revenue water (NRW) is water that is fit for use but is lost from distribution networks. In Malaysia, NRW is estimated to account for 39% of distributed water and much of this loss (26% of total NRW) is attributable to leaks from damaged water pipes. Despite the country's abundant water resource, Malaysia has experienced water supply problems in recent years due to climate change, population explosion, industrialization, rapid urbanization and tourism. Reducing NRW is a crucial component of the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016-2020), which aims to reduce NRW to 25%. Thousands of kilometres of cement-asbestos pipes are being replaced with polyethylene (PE), but detection and response to leaks remain inefficient and labour intensive. STL's HiLeak project will deliver an automatic, Internet of Things-enabled system for continuous leak detection and structural health assessment of water-filled PE pipes. HiLeak will use a series of collars at intervals along pipes, which 'listen' for cracks developing using acoustic emission and ultrasound-based sensing. The wireless sensor network will be supported by cloud-based data collection/storage and artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven data analysis. HiLeak will revolutionise Malaysia's water distribution network, allowing for preventive maintenance and the allocation of human resource to sites of known leaks as soon as they occur. HiLeak is a collaborative project which includes The Welding Institute (TWI) Ltd and Brunel University, London, in addition to Malaysian industry and research organisations. The development of HiLeak will contribute to several Sustainable Development Goals, most importantly goal 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities. HiLeak will enable Malaysia to more effectively use human resources to respond to leaks. Quicker response times will help Malaysia deliver its goal of reducing NRW, as detailed in the 11th Malaysia Plan. Reducing NRW will ensure more reliable delivery of water to people's homes, which is essential as urbanisation and other stressors increase.

Currently train axle inspections are required on every axle, every year. This is because an axle failure can lead to a derailment and significant damage. Train axle failures have caused major loss of life, with a consequential increase in both non-destructive testing and manual inspection that is expensive and disruptive to efficient rolling stock maintenance. This project aims to develop a method for detecting axle cracks on trains with on-board self-powered monitoring. The vision is to use continuous live monitoring of axles with low cost self-powered wireless systems that are easy to install and will replace expensive and disruptive NDT methods in maintenance sheds, eliminating inspections between major overhauls. It is intended to show that very significant cost reductions for train operators could be achieved as well as improvements in safety. The project will develop advanced low power signal processing and sensing techniques suitable for use in Perpetuum's harvester powered sensor platform on a test rig that will be built at Southampton University, using the key expertise of TWI Ltd., in NDT and fatigue cracks. This is a completely new approach to the serious issue of ensuring that cracks in train axles can be safely identified at reasonable cost. The project will be undertaken by experts at Perpetuum Ltd, University of Southampton and TWI Ltd...

Our railways are vital for the smooth operation of internal and trans border markets, and for the development of a sustainable and clean transport system. Building modern, competitive railway networks is therefore becoming a top priority for the UK, China and the rest of the world. To build and maintain safe high speed networks brings its own challenges. According to Scientific American, most rail accidents are due to broken rails and welds. Failure generally initiates from defects in the weld such as fatigue cracks, dead zones and flat spots. Despite these worrying statistics, some countries such as China still rely mainly on manual weld inspections, which is a slow, inconsistent and inadequate approach that is prone to human error. For defect detection in rail, the most common methods are ultrasonic and magnetic induction, which are slow and lack the ability to inspect the full volume of the weld. Phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) is an advanced NDT technique, with the capability to detect any faults within a weld. The consortium will develop TrackBot, an advanced automated universal weld inspection system that is based upon proprietary PAUT technology and systems developed by each of the consortium partners. TrackBot can rapidly detect all types of flaws in the full weld volume, increase inspection speeds, and reduce the number of skilled persons required to deliver efficient inspection and rail networks. In doing so, the consortium partners will generate combined revenue of £22.6million and deliver significant (>5x fold) return on investment.

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a powder bed fusion additive manufacturing (AM) process that is capable of producing metallic parts in a layer-by-layer fashion directly from CAD data. SLM can produce complex parts with near-full density and mechanical properties comparable to those provided by conventional casting and forming. Although there has been significant research into the entire SLM supply chain, one of the key challenges to the widespread adoption of SLM is the inability to achieve repeatable, high-quality parts from every SLM build. The reduction of distortion in SLM components is critical for ensuring a right-first-time SLM build. The DREAM project will address this challenge through a multidisciplinary digital approach, coupling real-time data acquisition, advanced modelling, cloud-based computing, and adaptive machine process parameter control to achieve zero-distortion builds. The project approach will be independent of powder supplier and machine manufacturer. The software, hardware, and cloud-based solution will allow internet-enabled machines and systems to identify distortion during the build process and make real-time decisions and forecasts about process parameter controls to mitigate and control distortion during the build process. The outcomes will result in cost reduction, higher material utilisation, improved quality assurance, and reduced design cycle times in the SLM process chain.

"Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) is an emerging technology for rapid prototype manufacturing, benefitting aerospace and medical devices, as the immediate manufacturing of high-value, complex structured components is usually necessary in these industries. Hence, the structural integrity of printed structures is extremely important and should meet the specifications and high standards of the above industries. In several metal AM techniques, e.g. selective laser melting (SLM), electron beam additive manufacturing (EBAM) and wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), residual stresses and micro-cracks that occur during the manufacturing procedure can result in irreversible damage and structural failure of the object after its manufacturing. Repetitive faults which occur during manufacturing due to incorrect estimation of appropriate operating conditions of the printer should be eliminated, as any waste is undesirable and costly for a company. The nature of some AM methods means that not all Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques are effective in detecting residual stresses. Thermography, X-ray computed tomography (CT scan), or digital radiography are limited by the resolution of images (thermography), they are bulky and costly (up to £100k), are not suited to residual stress detection. Our solution, EM-ReSt, functions as an add-on to existing AM processes, comprising two sets of NDT techniques: Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers (EMAT) and Eddy Current Testing. A crucial (and novel) extension of the proposed system is the incorporation of big data collection from the sensors and analysis through machine learning (ML) for estimating the likelihood of the AM techniques to introduce anomalies into the printed structures before the beginning of the manufacturing. A digital system that will estimate the potential and deficiencies of any AM technique for given structures will be developed and utilised for the establishment of a preliminary set of AM standards. Hence, more robust and reliable components will be printed and used. EM-ReSt is fast (msecs/measurement and overall scanning time does not exceed a minute), reliable (90% PoD), non-destructive online monitoring of AM techniques, can achieve 15% reduction of faulty outputs with the use of 4 times more cost-effective monitoring system, has low profile sensing hardware with potential for EMAT and EC miniaturization. Our initial target markets are the global aerospace and automotive component manufacturing market. This project represents a clear technological innovation for the UK AM industry, and major growth opportunity for the SME supply chain consortium, which is forecast to generate revenues of £72.5M and 362 new jobs 5 years post-commercialisation."

"Steel pipelines corrode due to of the nature of the liquids they contain. Also, cracks can form over time leading to failure and leakage of the contents, resulting in severe economic losses and environmental pollution. To avoid this, inspection, evaluation, and repair activities are performed periodically. Internal cracks and areas of corrosion and metal loss are monitored by the use of intelligent inspection devices (PIGs) which carry special sensors. Sections of pipeline that are found to be likely to fail are reinforced using an externally applied bolt-on clamp which is both costly and is difficult and dangerous to install. The FSWBot project will see the development of a radical new solution to internal corrosion and cracks that form inside pipelines. Meeting the objective will result in a much cheaper, safer repair process that will enable pipeline asset owners and their service providers to produce very high- quality welds in steel pipelines without shutting down and purging petroleum pipelines and without the use of divers and surface vessels. This is of enormous importance especially in respect to inaccessible pipelines and those which are installed in parallel groups where space around pipes is restricted. The objective of the project is to develop a robotic platform with a payload consisting of unique hydraulic friction stir welding equipment which produces no sparks. Data obtained by prior high-resolution mapping of anomalies that are produced by metal loss and corrosion will be used to provide information for mission planning. Repair will be carried out in-situ using no external power and no welding consumables. The robot will generate electricity from the liquid flow in the pipeline via a variable pitch turbine diving a generator, which will supply power to a hydraulic pump and a battery which drives the magnetic tracks. FSWBot will bring about a step change in the competitiveness and growth for 3 UK business -- namely Forth Engineering, Proserv and Innvotek."

"Globally 79% of electricity is generated by thermal processes, in which conventional power plants provide over 62% of global electricity supply and the remaining 17% is by nuclear fusion processes and this is expected to increase (IEA, 2015). Thermal power plants make use of a large number of thick section (\>20mm) components for many parts of the primary circuit; pump and valve bodies, ancillary systems and other safety critical components. Furthermore, off-shore wind demand in the UK requires \>1,000 structures (towers and foundations) or 1m tonnes of steel p.a. to be cost-effectively fabricated. **_The demand for 'thick section' steel structures in power generation is strong & growing._** The ability to fabricate these thick section structures cost-effectively is (in part) limited by the welding time and associated cost; to produce a typical 40m long monopile (60mm thick) takes ~6,000 hrs of 'arc-on' welding time. **_To reduce cost this manufacturing time needs to be significantly reduced._** Aquasium technology has developed the 'EBFlow' system, based on high productivity electron beam welding which can reduces this welding time to <200 hrs, equivalent to a reduction in cost of over 85%. **The EBManPower project will implement and validate the first EBFlow system within a large-scale fabrication facility to enable cost-effective manufacture of large scale power generation infrastructure.** Cammell Laird is one of the UKs last heavy fabrication ship yards and is the manufacturing partner for the U-Battery micro modular reactor (MMR) system. This project will focus on using the EBFlow system deployed at our site in Birkenhead to demonstrate the viability to fabricate MMRs in a cost-effective manner. Being able to achieve this will be critical to drive widespread deployment of new, cost-effective, nuclear fission solutions to meet low-carbon energy needs both within the UK and across the globe. Through this project our partnership believe we can increase revenues, grow exports and secure high value jobs in manufacturing and low-carbon energy sectors."

Maintenance of rail infrastructure is a major cost to the rail industry, costing over **£1billion p.a**. in the UK and representing **18% of Network Rail's expenditure**. It is also a major source of network disruption from both planned and unplanned maintenance operations. Rail usage and demand for rail services is increasing rapidly, placing more traffic on the rails and increasing requirements for maintenance. **Predictive maintenance** uses data and models of the rail track and its condition to estimate remaining useful life and target maintenance where it is needed to reduce unnecessary maintenance prevent unplanned reactive maintenance in case of failure. The savings can be huge. Network Rail have identified that reaching world-class predictive, risk-based maintenance strategies could deliver the following benefits: * **25-35%** **reduction** in maintenance costs * **70%+** **reduction** in the number of service failures * **35-45% reduction** in down time following failure * **20%+ increase** in workforce productivity * fewer unplanned, reactive interventions delivering enhanced workforce safety. Implementation of these strategies requires accurate, detailed and up to date knowledge of the state and condition of the railway infrastructure. This cannot be obtained using traditional manual inspection and new technologies for monitoring track and infrastructure condition, and automating data acquisition, analysis and maintenance planning will be essential to deliver these benefits. This project will develop a novel automated system for planning of track maintenance, using a unique combination of **optical fibre sensors** developed for use in harsh environments encountered in the oil and gas industry, coupled with new generation **Internet of Things (IoT)** communications technology and **artificial intelligence** to provide **automated decision support** tools for optimisation of maintenance programmes based on continuous real-time monitoring of track condition. The system will complement and interface with existing **digital inspection technologies** such as measurement trains, filling a need for continuous, **real-time monitoring** and model-based prognostics and optimisation. Central to the design of the sensor system are usability and low-cost. OptRail will be developed as a modular system with the sensor elements and interfaces built into a robust package that can be reliably bonded to tracks or embedded in structures with minimum effort and downtime.

UK and EU governments have committed to ensuring 20% of total energy consumption is sourced from renewables by 2020. Diminishing fossil fuel resources and adverse environmental impacts of other sources of energy is driving growth of wind farms, especially offshore wind farms as they deliver better performance per turbine due to better wind conditions and do not compete with agricultural land use. Reducing operation & maintenance (O&M) costs remains a key priority for offshore wind industry. Foundation maintenance alone accounts for ~65% of O&M costs. InnoTecUK (robotic and automation solution provider) is partnering with two renowned research & technology organizations (TWI Ltd and Brunel Innovation Centre -BIC) and end-user (The Underwater Centre -TUC) to develop and demonstrate an automated system (iFROG) for inspecting and streamlining maintenance of offshore wind assets. The new system will reduce maintenance costs by 50%, saving £150k p.a. per turbine. This will improve the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of offshore wind; encouraging future investment and benefiting energy security and the environment.

In order to reduce the carbon emission and global warming, its very critical to get Electric Vehicle (EV) widely used and acceptable with equivalent or better performance. The current EV batteries technologies are facing challenges in terms of safety while efficiently operating over 4V. The safety precautions taken in EV battery packs like cooling systems and gas escape channels result is very heavy battery packs. SAFEVOLT takes a wholistic approach to solving the problems of the range anxiety of consumers by focusing on safety and improving the cell energy density simultaneously. Safer cells with higher energy density mean less cooling and controlling systems at the battery pack level, therefore reduced cost, and more energy in the battery pack. Hence more driving distance in pure electric for both EV & PHEV and more affordable and safer batteries, making EV more affordable. This fosters the EV & PHEV market in the UK and globally. The SAFEVOLT project brings together 4 leading organisations that are at the forefront of battery materials innovation - Johnson Matthey (one of UKs largest battery companies and a leading global cathode material manufacturer) Talga Technologies (a SME with extensive experience in graphene production and R&D), University of Cambridge and TWI ltd. This project aims to achieve cells with 60% improved energy density and 30% reduced weight.

The project aims to develop a transformational technology for the production of extra thick and higher strength 'SUPERSLAB' steels required for the growing needs of the off-shore wind, oil, renewable energy and other thick plate using sectors in the UK, China and Europe. These materials are required to meet the requirement for infrastructure development in these growing sectors, to secure the energy needs of the 21st century. There are problems in meeting the need for the thicker, higher strength materials envisaged. The required properties for the thickest plates require rolling from cast slab initially at least four times thicker. Due to the nature of solidification, there is a tendency for the alloys required for increasing strength to segregate towards the centreline. In conventionally cast product this may be trapped at that point. This limits development of higher strength, thicker material and constrains the casting process limiting production rate and requiring significantly bigger, stronger casting machines for which economic justification is difficult. No supplier in the UK or China is currently capable of addressing this need and the thickest slab cast in Europe is limited to 400mm. This project will develop a new casting technology based upon unidirectional solidification which will overcome the issue of centre segregation, opening the way to a step change in both quality and thickness for high strength plate. In doing so it will also open opportunities for producers and machine builders in both countries to develop this growing new market.

The NautilUS bathyscaphic robot will reduce the costs, danger and environmental and health and safety risks involved in inspections required by the American Petroleum Institute (API) industry standard for petrochemical storage tank periodic inspections and in particular for corrosion thinning of the tank floor. At the same time, the shortcomings of existing robotic solutions will be overcome due to unique motion characteristics of the robotic NautilUS platform. The output of the project will lead to a product that will increase the turnover and profitability of the 3 UK SMEs - Monition Ltd, InnotecUK Ltd and Diagnostic Sonar Ltd (DSL) through the creation of an opportunity worth £17M in turnover over the five years following commercialisation. The overall objective of negating the current need for removing the tank to be inspected from service will be achieved through developments in low power explosion-proof robot design, the development of in-tank robot localisation and ultrasonics hardware and software developments, which will be integrated into a product to provide a cost-effective, continuously deployed statistical inspection solution.

"Recent studies and demonstration of new cutting techniques have identified that deployment of robots with lasers for remote cutting operations could offer significant benefit and go some way to achieve the desired outcome of safer, faster and cheaper nuclear decommissioning. However, there still remains significant uncertainty over the capability, integration and use of the technology, therefore there is a need to design, integrate and demonstrate the system(s) to enable size reduction of alpha contaminated gloveboxes and other large alpha contaminated items. This work will identify that laser cutting has real advantages over manual size reduction methods with the use of remote AI technologies. The robot laser cutting system with 7th axis control would consist of a manipulator arm type robot suspended from a movable track/crane/gantry. The robot would be a standard industrial robot -- for example, one from the KUKA KR series -- mounted underneath a movable platform. This platform would in turn be attached to a gantry crane (or similar) above a facility where the system was required. This would effectively allow the robot to be lowered in to the facility from above to perform manipulation tasks. The system needs to have an additional positional system for the platform being deployed. This would enable the position of the platform relative to some home position to be known at any given time. The robot would be programmed to know the position of its end effector relative to its base - which for this system would be the platform suspended from the gantry. Similarly, any tools would know positional data relative to the robots end effector. Thus, by applying the appropriate linear transforms from the home position, it should be possible to work out the exact position of the tool relative to the home position of the gantry. This would allow high accuracy operations to be performed by the robot in the facility. These might include high accuracy scans of a facility (using a point cloud scanning device), manipulation of items in the facility, size reduction, etc - any items which might otherwise be performed by a conventional facility with a stationary robot. The key aspects to success will be through the systematic project management ensuring: • Engineering design • Technology integration • Date fusion and data analytics • Software development • Laser and Fume management developments The output of the project will be a full feasibility study of the system."

The corrosion of materials and structures costs ~ 3.5% pa of the global gross domestic product (GDP) and Reinforced Concrete (R/C) causes 8% of this bill, ~ £158bnpa, £8bnpa in the UK. Therefore, imrpoving R/C structural inspection will lead to a large reduction in repair costs, can make a significant positive impact on the global economy. Currently R/C inspection is carried out manually by a person positioned on expensive scaffolding or by abseiling, with this comes a high saftey risk. The partners will address these problems by developing a prototype R/C climbing robot that (i) deploys a precision non contact GPR sensor for the detection of rebar and concrete corrosion and related defects, with 100% volume coverage and no scaffolding or abseiling. (ii) Is umbilical free, enabling climbing to unlimited heights (iii) Works autonomously in GPS/UWB controlled trajectories, adjustable by GPR sensor feedback for avoidance of rebar-poor regions (iv) Transfers NDT data by wirelss link to a ground based CPU. (v) Is fail-safe and easily recoverable.

TWI is taking the lead in the Open Architecture Additive Manufacturing (OAAM) project to demonstrate the ability to manufacture large metallic components via Additive Manufacturing (AM) for the benefit of UK Aerospace. The OAAM programme plans to develop directed energy deposition (DED) AM technologies that can be scaled up to accept multi-metre component sizes. TWI will work with project partners Airbus, Autodesk, Cranfield University, Glenalmond Group, University of Bath, University of Manchester and University of Strathclyde to create three DED AM process platforms. These new platforms will enable aerospace manufacturers and their supply chains to develop advanced AM manufacturing concepts in the following fields: 1. Arc-wire / Laser-wire AM @ Cranfield University. 2. Electron Beam wire AM @ TWI (Cambridge). 3. Laser-powder / Laser-wire AM @ TWI (Yorkshire Technology Centre). Each of these systems will offer unique AM capabilities and address a number of common needs: • Scalable architecture solutions, with common CAD/CAM control interfacing. • Integrated process steps (NDT, Machining, Inspection, Cold-work etc.) as necessary for optimum implementation to aerospace requirements. • Ability to manufacture aerospace components using AM to TRL 6 or MCRL 4/5. These new AM systems will be truly state-of-the-art research facilities for their respective AM process variants, and will be made available to UK industry, leveraging key expertise resident within the hosting research organisations. They will establish a fully quantifiable process that will place UK suppliers at the forefront of the technology and AM research. This will offer the UK aerospace sector access to next-generation manufacturing with a simplified, lower risk route to support AM’s industrialisation and rapidly deploy into aircraft platforms. A substantial amount of results overspill onto other sectors (energy, marine, etc.) is also foreseen. The project, which is supported by Innovate UK (ref: 113164), commenced on the 1 January 2018 and will run for three years.

"This project will create an innovative approach to additive manufacturing of fully functional metal components, providing both large scale and low cost to the user. The approach is based 3D printing of parts from a liquid which contains a very high metal content in an organic binder which is photo-curable under visible light. This forms a green body which is then fired to remove the organic content and sintered to full density. This combines the advantages of processes such as metal injection moulding (e.g. excellent resolution of true net-shape parts and removing the need for post-processing to achieve a suitable surface finish for engineering parts) with the flexibility of mass customisation achievable in additive manufacturing, since mould tooling is not required. Over the last 3 years, Photocentric, an established UK manufacturer of photo-curable resins, has developed a new type of 3D printing process using light in the visible range of the spectrum to cure the polymer instead of UV. This enables normal LCD screens as found in iPads and televisions to be used as the image creation device in the 3D printer, reducing costs by an order of magnitude in comparison to laser-based systems. A range of innovative printers has been successfully brought to market for creating plastic objects at lower costs and in larger formats than previously possible, taking advantage of the wide array of high resolution screens available. Now, with the aid of InnovateUK, this consortium will extend the technology to develop a process to deliver custom parts for all industrial sectors in many different metals. LPW, a leading provider of metal powders and TWI, one of Europe's largest research and technology organisations, will work with Photocentric to develop the process. The consortium will develop the ink, the metal 3D printer and the printing process. Industrial direction and process validation will be achieved through the involvement of Hieta, one of the UK's leading exponents of additive manufacturing. The process will enable rapid production of low cost custom metal parts in many different metals supplying them to a variety of industries- all made without tooling direct from a digital file."

TrakSys aims to produce high-value, low-cost railway innovations – enhancing large scale, vehicle mounted railway track inspection with localised automated inspection. The innovation lies in creating an autonomous vehicle with state of the art inspection capability to generate more information. Combining this information with position data to form a map of scanned areas, and also linking measurements to locations within those areas will support enhanced value from inspection. This will provide a much richer and more accurate depiction of the condition of track sections. The system makes provision for integration with other information systems within stakeholder organisations to close the loop between inspection and decision making. The approach supports better defect and damage management across the organisation, leading to improved safety for travellers and employees and more efficient, productive rail networks.

The need to test difficult to access, thick section steel components for weld defects and in-service corrosion that may lead to pressure vessel/component failure in the nuclear power generation industry requires the application of high sensitivity ultrasonic testing (UT) techniques. However the transducers that generate the beams of ultrasound do not operate well in radioactive environments and their response quickly deteriorates such that they are rendered of little use for defect detection/monitoring. This project will research the construction and testing of novel, radiation resilient, ultrasonic transducers manufactured from exotic materials and a variety of probe assembly techniques. The goal is to provide the nuclear industry with a reliable UT solution for prolonged in-service inspection and permanent monitoring. Two scenarios are envisaged: (a) elevated temperature, high radiation inspection close to the nuclear reactor (b) low radiation - inspection of nuclear waste containers stored at bespoke sites over very long periods. Our objective is to develop a series of prototype ultrasonic probes designed to suit the specific in-service inspection needs.

Non-destructive testing (NDT) is essential for ensuring and maintaining the integrity of structures and systems from aircraft to power stations. NDT operators are trained by practising on specimens with real or artificial flaws. These samples can be rare and/or expensive. For training at clients’ premises, NDT trainers must carry samples to the training location. The shear bulk and weight of the samples turns the provision of training into a major logistical exercise, and in some cases makes it impractical. This project will develop a new system which uses real data to provide an NDT experience indistinguishable from the real one, but without the need for the test sample. The system integrates wireless position sensors, gyroscopic orientation, camera input and load sensing into a hand-held probe. TrainNDT will develop an integrated sensor platform and construct the virtual environment based on real test data from well-defined samples with a range of defects. Software will relate the recorded NDT data to the real-time probe position, orientation, and pressure to output a signal to the trainee as if they were testing the real sample. Benefits include: the ability to carry out training anywhere in the world without the need for costly transportation of test specimens; availability of a much wider variety of virtual test specimens; and the ability to vary the training programme at short notice simply by downloading a new dataset. The system can provide automated checks and feedback on the trainee’s probe movements based on actual movements, adding value to the training experience.

Limited access and high thickness components typically limit non-destructive inspection in the nuclear industry to Ultrasonic testing (UT) techniques. Radiation endurance of commercially available UT sensors is limited to cumulative doses of 1 to 2 MGy even for models branded as radiation resistant. Severe operational difficulties can occur due to unexpected sensor failure and recurrent sensor replacement is both time consuming and expensive. The RRUS project will explore the constructed and testing of novel, radiation resilience, probes manufactured from exotic materials and a variety of assembly techniques. This goal will be to provide the nuclear industry with a reliable UT solution for prolonged inspection and monitoring. Two scenarios are envisaged: a) high radiation - inspection close to fission nuclear reactors and b) low radiation - inspection in nuclear waste disposal sites. Our main objective is to manufacture and test a series of prototype probes tailored to determine the design most suited to each condition.

Wire-based Additive Manufacturing (AM) is able to rapidly deposit a large volume of material, followed by a final machining operation to reach the final dimensional tolerances for parts. This fabrication method offers a considerable improvement in material usage for components that are machined from solid - commonly known as buy-to-fly ratio for aerospace and space industries. Existing wire-based AM systems used either ARC or laser as the heat input source, but both of these approaches have a fundamental limitation in controlling the heat input; which leads to distortion and residual stress in the final parts. An electron beam (EB) heat source do not suffer from this problem as the beam can be manipulated at very high frequencies -- leading to very precise heat input and avoiding residual stress fields. Our project aims to develop a UK EB wire AM platform -- adapted from a best-in-class EB welding system -- primarily targeting use in the aerospace, power and mining sectors for 'difficult to deposit' and high value Ni, Ti and Al based materials. High deposition rate, large build volume EB AM has been developed to a rudimentary level, with a single commercial system supplier capable of producing parts made by Sciaky in the US. Demonstrator components will be fabricated to address the challenges of: Achieving commercially viable build rates Fabricating industrially relevant complex structures Producing high integrity deposits (minimising the development of undesirable grain growth) Meeting the industry standard mechanical property requirements Minimising any distortion arising from the process The market for the EB wire AM process appears to be particularly promising for expensive and difficult to machine materials such as Nickel and Titanium -- which are commonly welded using EB systems (in aerospace and automotive sectors). Initial cost analysis calculations suggest a 40% reduction in costs of EB wire AM over rough machining from solid for a simple titanium aerospace component. We envisage being able to develop and supply \>10 systems per annum on a commercial basis by 2020-2022; all manufactured in the UK. This would represent a boost of \>£15m to the partners in the project and help to secure more than 75 jobs.

For marine energy to compete with other energy systems, a step reduction in CAPEX/OPEX and increase in availability times (AVT) is required. Albatern WaveNet scalable wave energy convertors (WECs) at 7.5kW scale, in grid arrays, have achieved a several fold CAPEX reduction compared with alternative designs, and at 1GW grid scale aim to achieve a levelised elecricity cost of £150MWhr, competitive with offshore wind, by 2024. As an enabling technology for this target an online, in-service, risk driven; condition monitoring, predictive maintenance management and design upscaling tool (RISKMAN) will be developed for WECs FOR THE FIRST TIME, to achieve a step OPEX reduction, AVT enhancement and design life optimisation. RISKMAN will input monitored fatigue cycle (vibration spectra) into theoretical models of fatigue life, refined by historic reliability data, to derive probability distribution functions for the remaining life of generator components and hence optimised maintenance schedules. RISKMAN will be a generic system applicable to all types of WECs, for exploitation of all the huge wave resources in poor, off-grid and island communities in developing countries.

The fuel rail is a pressure reservoir which feeds fuel injectors with fuel from a high pressure fuel pump, it works in a very demanding environment experiencing high cycle fatigue due to high frequency pressure fluctuation. The Optipress project will innovate fuel rails design by connecting design tools for FEA, distortion prediction and fatigue design to maximise the potential for autonomous design optimization. Further, the process innovation will be based around modelling and software to predict and control heat distortion of parts due to joining process. This will offer significant benefits, reduced process steps, improved part quality, reduced material and reduce waste (scrap). It will create and integrate a new technology that can be used across multiple sectors, such as: Aerospace, Oil & Gas, Automotive, Food and Drink and Power Generation. The partners that will develop Optipress project are Unipart Powertrain Applications (leading provider of fuel systems and engine components to the Automotive Sector), Coventry University and TWI. Prediction of residual stresses/distortion, and optimisation of joining processes to reduce residual stress/distortion is a common requirement for TWI’s clients. Metrology, joining and simulation are areas in which Coventry are developing cross sector expertise.

Capacitive Transmission Cable (CTC) is a novel technology for transmission and distribution (T&D) of electrical power. It offers a number of important advantages over conventional cable that arise from the fundamental difference in the way that electrical energy propagates within the cable; because of the multi-layer structure, and in contrast to a conventional conductor, CTC supports a transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode, which alters the capacitive coupling with ground, enabling lower-loss underground and subsea AC cables. The technology has been demonstrated at voltages up to 600V, showing that we can achieve power transmission via capacitive coupling with a power factor very close to unity. This project will carry out a systematic exploration of the design space in collaboration with Brunel University using state of the art simulation techniques, and will develop fabrication techniques in collaboration with Custom Designed Cables and TWI Industries. This will enable us to design, manufacture and test samples at a range of operating voltages, powers and link distances.

The AlwaysClean project will establish laboratory scale verification & field evaluation that a durable easy clean coating for solar PV market can be achieved by the use of novel nanostructured additives. This coating will improve the operational PV performance by preventing dirt and grime accumulation on solar PV modules & reducing or eliminating the associated drop in power output (typically up to 10-20%, global reports data). This loss of energy has a direct impact on energy security & leading to a higher overall cost of solar energy per KWh. As durable highly repellent coatings are not commercially available today, current solutions involve periodic washing of the PV surface, using clean water which is an inefficient use of this precious resource. Cleaning also introduces damage into the surface reducing long-term performance. The coating developed under the Energy Catalyst 2 project SOLplus reduces the accumulation of contaminants & will help to achieve a secure PV energy capability. The AlwaysClean project will enable the growth of a technology that increases the potential for reliable & robust, uninterrupted PV energy generation that can be brought to developing countries.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, with nearly 1.7 million new cases diagnosed in 2012 (second most common cancer overall). This represents about 12% of all new cancer cases and 25% of all cancers in women. According to the World Health Organisation, although breast cancer is thought to be a disease of the developed world, almost 50% of breast cancer cases and 58% of deaths occur in less developed countries. This includes India, where for every two women newly diagnosed with breast cancer in India, one of them will die. This innovative project will develop a novel, portable thermography–based health detection application for use as a highly efficient, less invasive, more convenient and safer breast cancer screening tool, specifically for use in rural parts of India as well as other developing countries. Hence the project makes a direct contribution to early detection of breast cancer and, therefore, towards the improvement of the welfare of India’s female population. The new screening system will be based on a portable mobile device application that is connected to a cloud server that will host an artificial intelligent (AI) model classifier. The client platform consists of a windows-based device and a thermographic camera, which is securely linked via a wireless connection to the cloud. ThermoTECT aims to bring portable breast cancer screening to people in rural and remote areas. The proposal for India is for healthcare personnel to take the mobile device to rural areas and perform screening. Not only does this bring health care closer to the grassroots, it eliminates the need for people to make repeated long journeys to urban cities for routine screening. This allows for health development while reducing the carbon footprint of such repeated journeys. This project makes a direct contribution to early detection of breast cancer in India and therefore the improvement of the welfare of India’s female population. With a quick breast cancer detection method, people will be less deterred to attend a consultation. In Indian culture, it is not uncommon for women to be cornerstones of families and primary care providers for children. A higher death rate for women has a direct relationship with children (future economic leaders) not reaching full potential, ending up in welfare and poverty, higher crime rate and divided families. Therefore, a reduction in death rate from breast cancer for Indian women would lead to a reduction in poverty for India.

The use of additive manufactured (AM) components is increasing rapidly throughout key global industries. Many industrial applications for Additive Manufacturing have been developed over the last five years or so. Industries such as aerospace, automotive and medical are embracing the advantages of AM and implementing the technology successfully. AM projected value, including products and services, is valued at £5 billion in 2015 are forecasted to be £13 billion by 2021. Despite the huge potential that additive manufacturing offers, it is currently limited due to inaccuracy in manufacturing of parts,varying shape and different materials. Slow processing time and cost of post processing hinders the wider adoption of Additive Manufacturing for various industrial sectors including aviation. ADD-CAD will offer a software/Add-on solution for laser blown deposition additive manufacturing that will ultimately improve the design accuracy by 90% and will reduce the post machining and processing time and will help to prevent material waste, save up to 8% on materials costs, energy use and carbon emissions, preventing product recalls for manufacturers, facilitating market growth and generate new AM manufacturing sector jobs. ADD-CAD will be created through a powerful supply chain of 1 key AM systems and service provider SME, 2 innovative product manufacturer SMEs and 2 research organisations.

Corrosion of painted steel vehicles is a long standing issue facing the agricultural and construction equipment industry. Corrosion on coated parts often initiates at edges and has a significant economic impact. This project seeks to address this issue by understanding the interaction of the substrate and the coating at edges and how this influences the corrosion protective properties of the coating. A feasibility study on in line NDT techniques to detect the level of edge protection early in the value stream is within the project scope. This is an enabling project to facilitate the development of robust coating solutions to resolve this issue.

The SmartBridge project aims to revolutionise the monitoring and maintenance of bridge infrastructure by developing an innovative knowledge-based digital platform that will enable the visualisation of bridges’ condition and degradation. These virtual models or twins will combine the multiscale 3D numerical models with sensor data collected and processed from real bridge infrastructure, incorporating operating environmental conditions and inspection history. Condition monitoring sensors including wireless accelerometers, displacement transducers, temperature sensors, strain gauges, barometers, hygrometers etc will be placed on bridges and data will be collected, processed and transferred to the digital twin, continuously resulting in a close to real digital twin of the bridge showing real-time conditions. Such a platform will allow bridge operators to predict failure and plan maintenance before incidents occur. It will reduce maintenance costs by 20% and downtime by 60%. The application of SmartBridge will include (1) Continous remote condition monitoring of bridges infrastructures (2) Risk-based inspection approach to perform intelligent maintenance operations, (3) A better understanding of lifecycle and degradation behaviour of bridges in different operating conditions.

We propose a project to look at the feasibility of producing highly miniaturised magnetic sensors which have the advantage of integrated ancillary electronics on a Compound Semiconductor (CS) millimetre scale chip solution. One concept will aim to converge advances in CS electronics with a novel Quantum Well Hall Effect (QWHE) magnetic sensor, combined monolithically on a GaAs based material platform. The resulting Magnetic Integrated Circuit (MAG IC) has the potential to have a large dynamic operating range, high sensitivity and ultra-compact footprint. Another concept we will investigate is the feasibility of a radically new GaN magnetic sensor which has the potential for ultra-high temperature operation, monolithic integration with GaN based electronics and scalability on Silicon and Silicon Carbide large wafer formats. The project will aim to verify whether these concepts can be manufactured in a commercially viable manner in order to challenge traditional, bulky magnetic sensing solutions such as Giant Magneto Resistance (GMR) sensors and low spec-low cost solutions such as Silicon Hall sensors. Target applications include: current sensing, embedded cable detection, high resolution metrology and magneto-imaging for medical & Non-Destructive Testing (NDT).

The project will evaluate the feasibility of step-changing the productivity & the competitiveness of making functional thick-film heater coatings by supplementing the current thermal spray application process, using pre-oxidised transition metals, with a low-pressure cold-spray application process using admixtures of ductile metal particles with brittle metal oxide particles. 2DHeat Ltd will partner with TWI Ltd to establish a viable production technique suitable for setting-up an export supply chain for the production & sale of novel far IR radiant heater panels in Slovenia. TWI will provide expertise of powder behaviours, performances & selection under cold-spray conditions as well as surface characterisation & relevant measurement techniques. They will also provide access to high temperature/ high pressure cold-spray equipment, as required. Dycomet UK Ltd will specifically provide expertise on the selection, access & running of low-pressure/ low temperature application equipment as well as practical guidance on run-condition optimisation. Once established, the project work is expected to have relevance in other high volume outlets, including automotives, white goods & plastic injection moulding.

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Pipeline infrastructure is aging far beyond its engineered lifetime, with pipe corrosion presenting itself as a major issue to firms wishing to extend the lifetimes of their assets. So far, industry has failed to comprehensively manage pipeline integrity, and it is now experiencing the cost. The high level of maintenance required to preserve assets and run them at full capacities has created immense demand for inspection services. To minimise inspection costs, companies look at non-invasive methods of inspection. Breakthrough Gridsense technology will advance the effectiveness of non invasive inspection by providing a system that can monitor pipelines 24/7. This will keep industry informed and allow it to respond to corrosion threats early. Not only will this save industry money, but also help reduce the risk of leakage and spillage, which can have grave consequences on both the environment and society.

A-PATH aims at improving healthcare and quality of life by fostering research collaboration between experienced UK and Indian organisations to develop affordable wearable bio-sensing and human motion monitoring suits and exoskeletons to assist essential human motions. The new technologies are aimed at elderly and physically challenged persons/workers for medical and non-medical applications. Exploitable outputs comprises sensing suits to assess health and physical activity level, both of which can decline due to ageing and disablity. The development includes prototyping of the upper and lower body exosklitons and their corresponding biosuits; IoT based remote user interfacing for data collection, data processing and storage, management and reporting; assembly, testing, demonstrating and showcasing of the fully assembled exoskliton setup, exploitation and dissimination activites in promoting and marketing of the technology for the revenue genration and knowledge sharing. This technology will be fully exploited in the Indian market as an affordable and accessible solution through private/direct sale and healthcare organisations. This technology will make significant impact on physically challenged individuals' life style by helping them to sit, stand up and walk with minimal or no support at all from carers, whilst users' movement/ user behaviour as well as their physiology parameters such as heart beat, body temperature and pressure are logged and monitored from remotely by health autherties and/or carers, thereby increase the empowerment and independancy of the users. Use of this technology in work places in India will encourage/help more physically challenged people to continue/resume their working life, whilst help Indian employers better manage the work operations, helping individulas to earn money, whilst help employers reduce their operational cost in supervision and mnitoring and insurance. The technology when fully exploited and/or commercialised will also make signification impact on Indian economy by creating more jobs in the R&D, healthcare and manufacturing and thereby improve the revenue generation for the India partners as well as for the constituent members of their supply chain. Cost and resource saving in transport and staffing for the healthcare authorities in India will be greatly improved by this technology's proven IoT based remote monitoring and management user interfacing

Cold spray is a new technology to restore in-service wear/corrosion damage on high-value aluminium, magnesium and titanium aerospace parts that are unrepairable by other means. Repair has technical, cost and environmental benefits, but the UK is lagging behind in adopting the technology. In the US and Australia over 200 military aircraft repairs have been developed and hundreds of commercial aviation repairs approved, saving taxpayers and the aviation industry at least $100m so far. Existing repairs are dimensional, but load-bearing repairs are now also being developed. This requires special heat treated metal powders, because in cold spray, powder impacts a surface at supersonic speeds and bonds to it via a mechanism similar to explosion welding. There is no melting, so the powder structure is transferred directly to the coating. Research into these powders has just started in the USA and many technical challenges remain. The powders must be further developed and proven, and a reliable commercial supply established. In this project, the UK has the chance to establish a global lead in engineered powders for cold spray. With InnovateUK investment PSI Ltd. (an SME) will take advantage of its 30 years’ experience in powders to position itself as a global supplier of advanced cold spray powders. To this end, PSI is partnering with BAE Systems and TWI. TWI owns the only independent state-of-the-art cold spray facility in Europe, and has been active in cold spray since 2006. BAE Systems estimate the project outcomes could save the UK taxpayer >£100m pa after 8 years. SME project partner Alphatek Hyperformance Coatings Ltd is considering investing in cold spray, with a view to commercialising aircraft component repairs for existing and new clients.

While cranes are used offshore they face heavy load operations up to 10,000t and environmental challenges (e.g. wind,vessel motion)that increase the risk of structural failures. A structural failure of a large crane unavoidably lead to serious damages or total collapses; such accidents are followed by high financial losses and serious injuries and / or fatalities. Examples like the collapse on a platform in the UK sector of the North Sea (2016) highlight the need for new solutions to implement a predictive maintenance of offshore cranes. Current inspections, performed once/twice a year are dangerous, time consuming and expensive. The CraneScan project will address 4 key needs: enhanced safety, downtime reduction, capital cost reduction and insurance cost reduction. CraneScan will demonstrate an innovative, reliable, cost-effective structural health monitoring system (SHM) that will continuously monitor the crane remotely and automatically detect structural integrity failures before they lead to failures. If deployed to all cranes CraneScan will save the global crane industry €375 million annually and significantly reduce the failure of cranes by 25%.

The turbo-charger market continues to grow at a CAGR of 10% as manufacturers design leaner and more fuel efficient engines. This project will boost sales of production equipment for this market, an important export market for Aquasium Technologies that will be worth £12m per year in 2022. The PlasMan project will examine the feasibility of adopting a novel plasma cathode electron beam welding technology for the production of turbo-chargers. The project will build and test a system and provide the necessary bridge to allow integration of the technology. The operational data collected will be used to quantify the benefits of adopting the technology and will be used to promote sales of the equipment against more conventional competitors, and emerging laser welding machines. We will also investigate and assess the potential for using the technology in new emerging markets of additive manufacturing, micro-machining and vacuum melting. The technical capability of being able to rapidly pulse the electron beam and much higher consistency output are particularly suited to these markets.

WindTwin project aims to revolutionise the monitoring and maintenance of wind turbines both onshore and offshore by developing an innovative digital platform that will virtualise with a digital twin the wind turbine behaviour and operation. These virtual models or twins will combine the mathematical models describing the physics of the turbine's operation, with sensor data collected and processed from real assets during real world operations. For example, condition monitoring on gearbox will be applied and sensors will be placed on the real wind turbine asset; the data being collected will be processed and transferred to the digital twin, continuously resulting in a close to real digital twin of the wind turbine showing real time performance. These virtual models will allow wind farm operators to predict failure and plan maintenance thus reducing both maintenance costs and downtime. The application of WindTwin platform will include (1) design using data and knowledge based tools and simulated testing of wind turbines before manufacturing, (2) continous predictive and preventive maintenance and condition monitoring of wind turbine asset (3) different power setting operation scenerios analysis, and associated wear and tear at different power outputs.

The aim is to undertake systems analysis of a new integrated heat recovery concept for future hybrid and electric range extender passenger cars. The proposed work is multidisciplinary in nature, including fundamental R&D of novel thermal coatings, quantification of ICE performance effects, exhaust heat recovery analysis and electric motor & battery performance analysis. The approach involves the use of new thermal barrier coatings that can reduce ICE wall heat losses by 30%. The premise is based upon minimising the heat lost to the engine coolant/oil and elevating the gas temperatures in the exhaust, where the energy can be more easily recovered. The method is particularly well suited to future hybrid and electric range extender applications, where knocking combustion can be more easily avoided and rapid catalyst light-off achieved. The work involves study of innovative technology in three areas. 1. Materials and manufacturing R&D of novel thermal surface coating technologies. 2. Evaluation of the effects of the coatings on ICE performance, fuel economy and emissions. 3. Analysis of the performance of the coatings when combined with exhaust heat recovery, hybrid and electric range extender powertrain technologies.

The project will investigate novel methods of welding future lightweight automotive structures. In particular, the project will consider new methods of Friction Stir Welding to join automotive body structures made of novel lightweight alloys including aluminium, high strength steel and magnesium. The aim is to demonstrate high strength joints by doping the weld with different grades and concentrations of additives which may positively influence the structure of the material in the weld and improve strength. The work builds on existing UK expertise, with the Friction Stir Welding process invented in the UK by The Welding Institute. The new processes will ultimately gives rise to a more durable, stronger and/or lighter joint. The process can also be readily used to join difficult and/or dissimilar lightweight materials of high promise.

Asset owners require reliable & long-term monitoring and assessment of their asset performance and condition so that they can schedule maintenance and ensure the maximum utilisation and life of their assets. Key to this is the application of structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques providing increased accuracy over existing survey methods. A variety of in-situ sensing techniques are used to assess the health, such as accelerometers, strain gauges and displacement sensors. This project intends to develop the tools necessary to allow a satellite-SHM product and service to be offered. Using satellite remote sensing (principally InSAR measurements of displacement) to inform structural health will allow such assessments to be made for a multitude of assets since satellites can image many thousands of km2 in one pass, contributing to a lower cost per asset and application to assets otherwise not frequently assessed. TVUK will act as satellite data provider and lead, TWI as expert in SHM provision, ThinkLab as expert in asset 3D modelling and BIM and STLTech as SHM data provider. A new product utilising InSAR data with structural health modelling and 3D visualisation will be produced, with proof of concepts with Transport for London (also a partner) and EDF.

Failure of mooring chains that secure floating structures in off-shore production of oil and gas results in oil leaks due to the rupture of flexible pipes that bring product to the surface. The clean-up costs of environmental pollution run into hundreds of millions of pounds. It is therefore important to inspect the mooring chain links to assess the extent of corrosion, fatigue cracking and developing weld faults before they result in failure of a chain. It is very expensive to remove a chain weighing many tons and bring it to shore to inspect it. Savings can be made by perfoming non-destructive testing (NDT) of a chain in-situ while it is in operation. The heavy chains generate large dynamic forces so that inspection using divers is extremely hazardous. The project aims to develop a small, compact mobile robot that can climb on mooring chains both underwater and in air to scan chain links with advanced ultrasound sensors. The robotic NDT system will provide a tool to assess the condition of mooring chains to enable asset managers to make decisions on repair and remaining lifetime of a chain. It will reduce inspection costs by speeding up coverage of a mooring chain and remove the need for diver inspection which costs £40,000 per floating structure and puts their lives at risk.

The demand for ‘thick section’ steel structures in power generation is strong & growing – primarily driven by need for off-shore wind towers and foundations structures – with UK demand for 1,000 structures or 1m tonnes of steel p.a. The fabrication of structures is limited by the welding time (and cost); to produce a typical 40m long monopile (60mm thick) takes ~6,000 hrs. CVE has developed the ‘EbFlow’ system which reduces this welding time to <200 hrs, equivalent to a reduction in cost of over 85%. However, to date, this has only been successfully achieved using proprietary ‘HTUFF’™ steel supplied by the Nippon steel from Japan. This steel alloy is able to overcome HAZ toughness which is by product of the rapid welding approach. Owing to Nippon having a monopoly supply position, this has prevented and serious market investment and uptake of the approach. The HiWeld project aims to integrate induction heating into the EbFlow system, to overcome this issue by applying a localised heat-treatment – allowing standard grades of C-Mn steel to be used for structures. Critically, standard S355 steel can be supplied by any UK, European or Worldwide supplier; unlocking a key market barrier to adoption of the EbFlow process. This development will enable >£10m of systems to be deployed by CVE within 3-5 years of project completion, potentially reducing the cost of off-shore wind structures by 3-5% (LCOE prediction).

The automotive industry faces major challenges to meet targets for emissions, efficiency, performance and cost; light weighting of parts using composites enables all of these to be addressed, except for cost. A key driver of cost of composites is the limited ability & capacity in the joining technology available. In project Light-Join, JLR, Nissan and their Tier 1 suppliers aim to develop a number of solutions that will enable cost effective integration of high performance composite components into volume car production. Light-Join aims to enable replacement of specific metal vehicle components with composites, specifically focussed on developing rapid joining solutions, raising the manufacturing maturity to produce a small scale demonstrator component (MRL5) and assessing the potential for scale-up to MRL9A. This project will develop a solution leading to 30% weight reduction for all-aluminium construction (for JLR) and 60% compared to an all steel construction (for Nissan). Critically this approach will have industry wide applicability, allowing a lower risk introduction of lightweight composite components to the mass market.

Total hip replacement (THR) surgery is a common procedure, with over 80,000 procedures done each year in England and Wales. There are two types of implants: those that use bone cement and those that are cement free and bond directly to the bone called ‘uncemented’. JRI, the lead on this project, pioneered uncemented THR in the 80s and it has been highly successful. Following two reports by Lord Carter and Prof Briggs in 2016, the suggestion is that uncemented THR should be used less often and only in younger and more active patients – based on cost alone. OrthoSculpt looks to develop an innovative manufacturing technique that should make the cost of the two types of implants closer, which will allow more patients to have the uncemented version. This technique is based on a novel technology owned by TWI, a UK research organisation, called Surfi-Sculpt®. With Surfi-Sculpt, a porous surface can be added to an implant by ‘moving’ the metal on its surface using an electron beam. This will make small shapes like spikes and triangles that will engage with the bone and stimulate the bone cells to grow into the structures, thus eradicating the need for bone cement. Surfi-Sculpt is both fast and can be applied to individual components, so it is perfect for small batches as well as customised implants. JRI should be able to increase its sales of hip replacements by 4% by 2021 through this advance, with more patients being treated with uncemented hip replacements. We also believe that other industries will find benefit from this rapid, novel manufacturing process for surface preparation, including heat exchangers.

Ice formation on aircraft, wind turbines and power lines is a major cost to industry and an ongoing cause of fatal air crashes and accidents from ice-shedding. Current ice-mitigation technologies rely on mechanical breaking of the ice, electrical heating or application of de-icing chemicals. These are expensive, inefficient, unreliable, and damaging to the environment. The aim of the ICEMART project is to develop a novel passive ice-repellent coating that will prevent ice formation and adhesion without the need for active ice-management. This development will have far-reaching impact across a wide range of sectors, including aviation and energy where it could save hundreds of lives, eliminate the discharge of over 100 million litres of aircraft de-icing fluid, contribute to annual savings of £7bn in fuel and 80Mtonnes of CO2 from aviation and improve wind generation efficiency by 17%. ICEMART technology is based on a novel patented technique for obtaining multi-functional additives that can be incorporated into coating resins making them highly repellent to water and ice, whilst providing a tough and durable coating.

The is a great pressure on the UK vehicle manufacturers to reduce fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions. Great improvements in these requirements have taken place over recent years mostly by the development of highly fuel efficient engines. This trend of improved engines will not be sufficient to meet impending legislative requirements on carbon emissions. Therefore weight reduction of vehicles is vitally important. This must be done cost competitively, consumers would not pay much more for vehicles so cost effective solutions must be found. This programme seeks to find new ways of producing optimised structures using the approach of applying different materials where they are needed. This novel part of this technology is to develop the modelling techniques that allow the efficient use of these multiple materials. By doing this, both weight optimised and cost optimised structures can be produced.

Awaiting Public Project Summary

Project INTEGRAL aims to combine two innovative technologies for the purpose of making a prototype system that will make a step-change in thecharacterisation and and size reduction of the UK’s radioactive waste. We propose to develop an integrated prototype tool that is mounted on a robot arm and combines a miniaturised radiation mapping system with a coincident laser profiler and laser cutter. This device will enable surface radiation mapping of nuclear waste containers to identify hot-spot areas of contamination and selectively cut them out using the coincident laser. This will enable the waste to be more effectively sorted and split into high6 intermediate and low classification levels, promising significant savings for the UK tax payer by reducing the overall amount of high activity waste. The project is being delivered by ImiTec Ltd, specialits in radiation mapping technologies working in partnership with the The Welding Institute (TWI), an international leader in welding and laser cutting technologies.

The textile and clothing industry in Mexico has experienced a major productivity transformation thanks to the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico, USA and Canada. Introduced in 1994, NAFTA has had a positive effect on employment and also exports from Mexico. Currently the textile industry, which is over a century old in Mexico, represents the fourth largest manufacturing sector and is experiencing strong jobs growth. Since 1994, it is also a source of foreign currency earnings due to being the second highest industrial sector for exports. Textile and clothing enterprises are found throughout Mexico (Coahuila, Durango, Chihuahua, Aguascalientes, Mexico, Puebla, Guanajuato, Yucatán and Tlaxcala). The sector sustains around 18% of national employment - 1,300,000 jobs in total. The implication of current geopolitical trends in the Americas are a good reason for the Mexican sector to move up the value-added chain, and the ACTIN project will assist the sector to do this. ACTin is a collaboration between Mexican and UK companies and research institutes for the development of durable anti-microbial textiles for the healthcare industry. This is a strategically important focus area in both countries due to the significant economic and social impact of healthcare acquired infections which lead to extended stays in hospitals, higher healthcare costs, and thousands of deaths globally each year. This project builds on previous collaboration in the successful CuVito project (EU-Mexico collaboration funded by the European Commission's FP7 programme and CONACYT) and will develop novel copper-based and functionalised-silica based treatments for textiles. Innovative methods for incorporation of the active agents via inkjet printing and also a patented melt-mixing process will be used. The project aims to deliver value-added products for the SMEs involved in the project both in Mexico and the UK, which will help them leverage this novel technology for competitive advantages in the healthcare industry and also open the doors for further collaboration between UK and Mexico. Some partners may also be able to pursue licensing opportunities after the project. The health of the population is an essential element for the economic development of any country, and it constitutes a priority for public policy in Mexico also, with an ongoing search for novel technologies that can improve public health. In Mexico, the health sector is one of the major economic activities and one with strong growth in recent years. Specifically in 2014, the health sector was equivalent to 5.7% of the national economy in Mexico. In addition to the social benefits of improved healthcare via reducing HAIs, novel antimicrobial textiles, especially those based on copper, can provide Mexican textiles businesses with a distinct value-added high-tech product which will differentiate their product offer from the low-cost imports from Asia in the textiles market. The ultimate impacts of these activities will be to assist the UK’s ODA effort and support three of the UN’s sustainable development goals, i.e. goal 9.3 (promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation), goal 9.5 (enhance scientific research and upgrade technological capabilities of industrial sectors), and goal 9B (support domestic technology development, research and innovation). Research into HAIs is particularly relevant to developing countries and hence adds value to ODA ; a recent World Health Organisation report stated that in low- and middle-income countries the frequency of ICU-acquired infection is at least 2 to 3 times higher than in high-income countries.

ENTRANCE will develop , at feasibility level, an integrated transportable system to obtain combined electrical power and heat, and valuable co-products from wood and other biomass fuel. The co-products are high value charcoal, biochar for soil improvement and a means of long term carbon sequestration, and preservatives for building products. Centralised biomass CHP systems cannot address this market. A transportable system is needed to operate at the biomass source and remove the transport costs of bulky wood and agri-waste. ENTRANCE will modify a biochar retort to supply its hot and calorific exhaust gas to an external combustion (Stirling) engine powered CHP generator, modified for wood pyro-gas. The gas will be storedin a portable buffer gas store to allow continuous electrical output from the biochar batch operation. Innovative compact heat exchangers will be used to cool and densify the hot gas for storage and feed to the Stirling combustor, whilst recyclable filters will be developed to clean the gas and extract valuable compounds. Electricity is for use in agricultural buildings or grid supply, the heat from the exchangers is used for biomass or crop drying.

Oil & Gas UK forecasts the market value of decommissioning the North Sea to be ~£30Bn by 2040. Approximately £1.8Bn of this is related directly to subsea cutting activities, with Main Operators requiring cutting technologies which are flexible, fast, reliable, deployable remotely and safe. As such, there is an industrial need and market opportunity for a significantly quicker approach to lower cost decommissioning in deep and hazardous waters than exisiting solutions. The SubSeaLase project will address this need by developing and demonstrating a novel underwater laser cutting system which can be initially used for cutting industrial relevant structures at depths up to 100m. The system will consist of an underwater laser cutting head, with the laser source and gas compressor remaining topside, deployed on a modified ROV. We expect our approach to be 4 times faster than conventional cutting approaches; significantly reducing deployment costs and increasing the competitiveness of the UK decomissioning supply-chain.

This project will investigate the feasibility of creating coated FSW tools using a novel high energy physical vapour deposition (PVD) process – HiPIMS (High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering). Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is an innovative joining process, which uses a rotating, non-consumable tool, which is traversed along the interface of two work-pieces. The process typically provides enhanced weld quality, strength and durability together with reduced energy consumption and environmental impact when compared to conventional fusion welding processes. However, FSW tooling is an extremely demanding environment – high temperature (>700°C), high abrasion and exposure to the reactive effects of freshly exposed metal surfaces – this has limited its commercial application to low melting point alloys, principally aluminium. Through the application of HiPIMS coating, we hope to enable the welding of ‘high-temperature’ materials, such as steel and titanium for high-value industries (e.g. Aerospace & Transport).

Solar PV systems represent a large and rapidly growing global market with large growth rates traditionally met by low-cost c-Si systems imported from the Far-East. Recently markets for thin-film technologies based on CdTe and CIGS have started to grow rapidly giving European manufacturers greater market share. However thin film systems are limited to efficiencies of 15%. Smart coating technologies based on functional nano-materials offer a tremendous opportunity to increase thin-film cell efficiency with relatively low investment. This approach is commercially attractive and offer technical and commercial advantages for solar PV systems, directly addressing the energy trilemma. However, outstanding issues relating to degradation and efficacy have to be overcome to achieve commercial acceptance. INTREPID will develop coating technologies for smart coating systems based on organic / inorganic coatings that can achieve 1% increase in cell efficiency for lifetimes 20 years for in-process and in-field application.

The increasing use of Al by vehicle OEMs is driven by its high strength to weight ratio, enabling substantially improved fuel economy & reduced CO2 emissions when substituted for heavier materials. However, the change of material presents new challenges with respect to design & methods of joining. The pre-treatment of the Al surface prior to bonding is the key to long service life. Pre-treatments successfully employed by the aerospace industry cannot be used in automotive production, where cheaper & more environmentally friendly pre- treatments are required. Specifically, the use of chromates is unacceptable. Hence, there is a need to develop chromate-free pre-treatments that will consistently provide the required level of performance, whilst being acceptable both in terms of general engineering practice and economy. OPTIMA will therefore prove technical feasibility of implementing in-line NDT within our chrome-free pre- treatment process for lightweight alloys to provide process control and assurance that we can achieve the level of performance required by our customers.

GKN through its expertise in composites and vehicle structures (Autostructures) sees a potential to offer their Automotive OEM customers vehicle structures incorporating composite lightweight components.Legislation is driving lower CO2 targets, historically achieved through powertrain efficiencies however the industry is in agreement the technological focus will have to shift to light weighting to achieve ever tighter limits. GKN knows that adoption of new technology will only happen once the business case supports it, this will require an efficient supply chain and lean manufacturing processes capable of meeting the customers’ requirements for cost, volume and quality.The focus for this project will centre upon GKN working to establish a UK based, light weight supply chain supporting this high value and “sticky” technology, building a consortium of industry experts concentrating on technologies in the areas of manufacturing processes, joining technology and non-destructive testing, which will be essential to meet the customer needs and provide lightweight structures in automotive volumes.

The project will develop a new highly innovative lightweight exhaust system for forced induction diesel and petrol automotive vehicles. This project will deliver cost-effective materials and manufacturing technology, including metrology and CAE methods to enable a step change reduction of 50% of the mass of an exhaust system. It will provide innovative solutions to the manufacturing challenges associated with down-gauging exhaust components in terms of jigging, forming, joining and metrology as well as the overall design methodology. Furthermore, the project will focus on the development of new and innovative material processes for the catalytic hot-end of the exhaust system including the associated manufacturing challenges. The ultimate aim is to significantly reduce the overall system mass, thus for instance giving an annual CO2 saving of 325M tonnes, reduced customer fuel bills and a 5% reduction of precious metals being used in catalytic converters. The project brings together 3 industrial and 2 academic organisations in a 2 year project costing £1.59M

Aerospace industry is going through a phase where there is an evolution towards lightweighting the aircrafts by using light weight composite materials. This has huge financial and environmental implications for all stakeholders. There is an increasing need to develop techniques which can process these materials (joining, welding, etc.) at a similar rate to conventional metal components. A thorough feasibility study of ultrasonic welding, the process variables involved and its suitability for commercialization will be done in this project. The project will also compare parts processed by ultrasonic welding to established manufacturing techniques. The key outcomes and understanding from this project will be fed into a larger industrialisation project which will assess the suitability, repeatability and mechanical properties of composite parts proceseed by using ultrasonic welding techniques. The UK aerospace industry and the entire supply chain can benefit fom the understanding of a clean, fast and reliable joining technique and this feasibility study is the first step towards achieving that goal.

Current socio-economic pressures on the global civil aerospace industry are increasing the utilisation of titanium in aero-structures. Production of parts by existing methods leads to inefficient buy-to-fly ratios (as high as 20:1), which is becoming increasingly uneconomical (high material cost & labour intensive; leading to high repeat costs, long lead times & design constraints) and driving the need for structures to be fabricated by near-net-shape welding processes. Laser welding is emerging as the process of choice since it can produce low distortion welds of good quality and properties at significantly faster speeds than other welding processes. The OLIVER project will further develop knowledge in laser welding titanium and its application to structural aerospace assemblies, and at the same time exploit this knowledge by developing UK manufacturing capability both within the UK supply chain and OEMs. Project OLIVER includes 2 OEM case studies which represent first- to-market opportunities for the technologies to be developed. A further case study is included which will demonstrate the capability of laser welding a strut component in a revolutionary titanium-composite.

Each year, it is estimated that corrosion costs the economy £10 billion per annum in the repair, maintenance and replacement of structures in Britain. Organic coatings loaded with hazardous or environmentally unfriendly metals such as zinc and chromates are commonly used to protect such structures and so it is desirable to find improved “green” alternative solutions. Graphene has been identified as a suitable “green” anti-corrosive additive and Project GRACe will investigate and develop the potential of graphene based anti-corrosive coatings. In addition, graphene has been identified with the ability to mitigate risks of fires, so GRACe will also explore the potential for using graphene in fire retardant, protective coatings.

Remanufacturing is a major manufacturing challenge due to the variation in the condition of incoming parts, as well as the need to react quickly to varying demand, driven by factors including in-service failure (such as casualty wheel flats in the rail sector) which makes accurate forecasting very difficult. Moreover, the approach presents important supply chain and logistical challenges to ensure that parts are collected and returned at the right time and place to meet complex repair schedules, involving multiple activities against fixed deadlines. Existing repair methods often entail a series of manual tasks, undertaken in different locations, making precise control impossible. A different approach is required for heavily utilised high value equipment where "out-of-service" time must be minimised. In the AURORA project, the world's first flexible remanufacturing cell for rail components, combining high performance cladding, machining and in-process part inspection, to ensure the accuracy and integrity of parts, will be developed and demonstrated. This new approach will enable novel business models to be investigated.

The SOLplus project will explore the feasibility of using novel nanostructured coatings to improve the operational performance of solar PV by preventing dirt and grime accumulation on solar PV modules and reducing or eliminating the associated drop in power output (typically up to 10-20%). The project will establish the proof of principle that these durable, transparent, and superhydrophobic coatings can be put on both glass and flexible substrates to prevent the build-up of dirt on solar panels. Such coatings will be a significant advance in the field of repellent surfaces, with the potential to be self-cleaning . By maintaining the design performance of the solar PV system, such a coating would allow for significant cost and emissions savings since the lowered power losses would directly translate to a higher LCOE for solar power and contribute to significant reductions in carbon emissions. The project will provide the UK an opportunity to exploit an emerging advanced materials technology and be better equipped to meet its renewable energy targets by extracting the maximum performance output from the investment made into solar PV reducing the LCOE for solar PV.

The project explores opportunities to reduce the weight of off-highway vehicles in order to improve their productivity, efficiency and reduce their impact on the environment . The weight savings will be delivered by researching a series of enabling technologies in the area of simulation, more efficient design of steel fabrications, design concepts and materials.

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CERAMOTOR is an exciting project, part-funded by the Technology Strategy Board under the Energy Catalyst competition, to design and develop a new type of motor for an electric submersible pump (ESP). ESPs are widely used in the Oil & Gas sector worldwide, to boost productivity or to de-water wells, but they suffer from inherent drawbacks: poor low-speed efficiency, overheating, contamination and insulation breakdown. These cause premature motor failures (32% of ESP-related stoppages). Our motor will embody game-changing efficiency, reliability and value. It will achieve this with an innovative hybrid rotor design, which will be highly efficient at all speeds. The motor will use composite components and alloys for improved performance at internal temperatures of up to 550°C - much higher than existing motor limits. MTBF of up to 5000hrs, compared to a typical existing motor MTBF of 3500hrs. Our motor will have an 8 year design life, up to 6 years longer than existing motors, making it highly attractive to end-users. The design can be adapted for use in a range of sectors other Oil & Gas: Automotive, Aerospace, Marine and in particular, Geothermal.

The manufacture of large scale civil nuclear components presents many technical, economic and environmental challenges. To enable the UK to successfully compete in the domestic and global nuclear power plant market this project aims to maximise manufacturing efficiency and minimise environmental impact. This will be achieved by utilising advanced near net forging/forming, hollow ingots, high integrity electron beam welding , net shape cladding and high speed machining to dramatically increase material yield and deliver larger, more complex civil nuclear components that have previously been impossible to manufacture domestically. This project also aims to combine process modelling and advanced material characterisation methods to understand and optimise both the manufacturing route and metallurgical response of the components, thus maximising the resultant mechanical properties and component integrity. Through these technological advancements the cost, lead time and embodied energy of nuclear forgings can be greatly reduced resulting in reductions in energy unit prices and CO2 emissions in generation.

Long term creep monitoring in steam pipes is of crucial importance to the safe operation of power plants. The InertStrain proposal aims to develop an innovative creep strain measurement technique which can be applied to power plants. The central idea is to use inert gas to protect the inspection area of a component from oxidation and other contamination on the original surface of a high temperature pipe up to 650°C so that accurate creep strain measurement can be made over a prolonged period of time in a power plant environment. A patent application (GB1411277.5) has been filed to protect the concept. The main innovation of this proposal lies on the implementation of this patent, i.e. to research and validate that air-tight sealing using inert gas such as Argon can be achieved to protect the inspection area over prolonged time, so that accurate creep strain can be measured by digital image correlation technique. The sealing must survive numerous cycles between ambient temperature and operating temperature up to 650°C in a power plant over many months, years or even decades.

The TiWear project is investigating the feasibility of applying a novel, wear resistant surface to titanium components for wells. Titanium is a highly attractive material because of its corrosion resistance, particularly in saline conditions, but has very poor tribological properties. This results in galling and rapid wear on moving components. A novel approach to producing a hard surface has been developed for other applications, based on the incorporation of ceramic structures near and at the surface of the parent material. Advanced Defence Materials Ltd, The Weir Group and TWI are now collaborating to establish the feasibility of applying this technology to high value components in shale gas wells, to extend lifetime, increase reliability and decrease extraction cost.

The LightBlank project will push the limits of sheet panel light weighting technology. A combination of high quality friction stir welding and HFQ, an advanced aluminium forming based on scientific understanding of material behaviour, will help realise the ultimate lightweight aluminium panels with innovative design for automotive, rolling stock and aerospace industries. The proposed technology combination will enable UK made vehicles to be cheaper and lighter. That will reinforce competitiveness of the wider UK vehicle manufacturing industry and benefit the whole nation.

Nuclear sites require regular maintenance to replace and/or repair corroded/deteriorated pipes. A result of the challenging environment, confined space and limited external access is that external orbital cutting and welding processes are not viable for many applications, and, consequently, in-bore remote processing has generated significant interest in recent years. The LaserPipe project will develop a compact in-bore laser welding head and investigate the procedures for an all positional laser welding process. The resulting in-bore processing system will integrate the compact laser welding head to a snake-arm robot, to demonstrate remote locating of weld joint, aligning laser beam path and perform in-bore laser welding. The same tool can also be employed for in-bore laser cutting and pre/post-weld heat-treatment, thus reducing the capital investment necessary for in-bore pipe processing operations, and improving related productivity.

Transforge aims to show that the fabrication of forged transitions from dissimilar materials can be achieved by using single-pass electron beam welding followed by re-forging and appropriate heat treatment to develop the required integrity and properties. This will allow the fabrication of higher quality and higher performance components for the construction of new nuclear power plant including newly developing Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). The spin-off benefit will be in a possible production route for other dissimilar metal joints for use in marine environments and oil and gas applications as well as for producing forge tools. Transforge will enable us to offer a significant differentiator which will allow us to enter the nuclear supply-chain. Within the feasibility study we will examine the properties of a number of dissimilar material joints produced with an advanced welding technique, including post process heat treatment of the welds and re-forging.

Hydrogen (H) is a renewable energy supply that is returned to its source, water, in the process of generating energy. It does so without carbon or any other harmful emissions and its carbon footprint in the energy generation cycle is lower than that of any other renewable. Therefore, given recent advances in fuel cell technology, it is an attractive and realistic option as a mass market transport fuel. However, to reach such a market, the confidence of both the public and safety regulatory bodies will need to be gained. Specifically, H tank failure probabilities on vehicles will need to be orders of magnitude less than those in existing industrial H usage, a major challenge given that transport is a relatively uncontrolled environment. A continuous monitoring safety assurance sensor unit for vehicle H tanks, which stores a record that can be read during routine vehicle services, is proposed. This will greatly reduce failure probabilities, through early detection of H embrittlement (HE), fatigue defects and diffusion leakage. Other main project innovations include the use of passive acoustic emission (AE) sensing to keep system costs at a small fraction of the cost of a vehicle H fuel tank.

The highly demanding in-service conditions of torpedo ladle axles in steel production and high speed locomotion axles result in high levels of abrasive wear and fatigue on short timescales, thus contributing to high scrappage rates. Applying a suitable Laser Engineered Coating (LEC) on to worn ladle and locomotive axles will generate large savings on replacement costs, as well as eliminating the CO2 burden of manufacturing new components. LEC technology is a recent development, successfully implemented in a variety of applications where resistance to wear is the foremost consideration and fatigue performance is not seen as important. The lack of development of metallurgical powders which lead to enhanced fatigue performance has limited the growth of LEC into much broader applications, such as the aforementioned axles, where behaviour under cyclic stress is a key concern for safety reasons. Therefore in this project a comprehensive programme of powder and LEC development will be performed to produce new coatings optimised for combined high fatigue, wear and adhesion performance, which will be validated through both destructive and non-destructive evaluation.

Radiation Curing utilising Light Emitting Diodes (LED) offers substantial energy savings for industrial wood coating applications compared to conventional UV mercury arc lamps (~60% less) and traditional gas fired drying systems (~90% less). However, the growth of Radiation Curing applications has been limited due to: Poor depth penetration of UV in pigmented coatings; Poor surface coating properties (due to oxygen inhibition) and the absence of optimised coating formulations. NIRVANA will deliver 3 novel solutions to these challenges by: 1. Developing an innovative near-infra red (NIR) photoinitiator within the 880-1000 nm transmission window where light is not typically absorbed or scattered. 2. Developing novel hybrid organic-inorganic nano-materials to increase surface cross linking density and hardness and reduce oxygen inhibition. 3. Creating formulations of 100% solids acrylate based resin wood coatings that can be cured using energy efficient NIR LED irradiation

Bonded composite patches are used to repair corrosion, fatigue and impact damage to airframes due to their superior mechanical integrity characteristics compared with mechanically fastened repairs. Such repairs also reduce aircraft down-time, maintenance labour costs and enable useful life extension. Success of a bonded repair is critically dependent on achieving suitable surface preparation and cure under difficult field conditions. Expanding the scope of patch repairs to primary load bearing structures, requires an added level of assurance where voids/disbonds are below a critical size threshold and that cure conditions result in adequate adhesive shear modulus without high residual stress. We propose to develop a 'smart-patch' system with a reliable, low cost, integrated sensor network that will act as part of a feedback control system for active cure control to optimise both adhesive mechanical properties and minimise residual stress. The sensors will also be used as active transducer elements to enable non-destructive inspection of the patch to with a high probability of detection for voids and disbonds that are equal to or larger than the critical size.

The use and cost of Titanium (Ti) alloys in Aerospace continues to grow and escalate, putting ever more pressure on cost-effective manufacturing of parts in Ti. Near net shape forming technologies for Ti alloys are currently under development with the aim of building Ti parts rather than machining them out of solid. Most current approaches however are somewhat limited in terms of productivity, with material deposition rates of around 5kg/hr being common. Linear Friction Welding (LFW) is an innovative solid phase welding technology that is emerging as a new enabling technology for Ti near net shape manufacture. Capable of effective material deposition rates of 50kg/hr, together with excellent weld quality and process repeatability, LFW has the potential to be a game changing technology in this field. The TiFab project will develop and demonstrate Linear Friction Welding (LFW) technology for the cost effective manufacture of near net shape Ti alloy components and will support the ambitions of CAV, a UK tier 1 aerospace supplier, to grow their product offering..

The project goal is to establish the feasibility of the innovative use of a non contact microphone array for stuctural health diagnostics by vibration detection combined with active noise and vibration cancellation, for all the rotating machinery within an onshore wind turbine nacelle. Novel time and phase reversal techniques for received microphone signals will be investigated experimentally to investigate the possibility of high volume coverage for both vibration detection and cancellation. The array could potentially achieve a step function reduction in wind farm levelised electricity cost through a combination of several cost benefit factors. (1) Machinery lifetime extension, reduced maintenance costs and avoidance of lost revenue through reduced forced downtime and scheduled downtime; (2) Generation of increased revenue through turbine operation at higher wind speeds, increasing the capacity factor: made safely possible through reduced machinery vibration and environmentally possible through reduced noise emission; (3) Reduced noise issue costs. Benefits under all headings are estimated to total £35k per MW year, which is ~25% of an onshore turbine OPEX +CAPEX.

The TITAN project builds on the previous development work by ETL and UoL who have developed cutting edge thermoacoustic technology to generate electrical power from waste heat. The TITAN project aims to take this knowledge and develop a product prototype to demonstrate the technical feasibility of thermoacoustic technology. In so doing the consortium will maximise the chances that the manufacture of these technologies will be undertaken within the UK. TITAN is a business-led consortium, with the marinised diesel engine sector acting as the initial route to market for the technology. The specific developments to be undertaken within the project relate to the following: 1. Development of a novel configuration of thermoacoustic device 2. Thermoacoustic and Structural Modelling to enable the design of the thermoacoustic system 3. Design and fabrication of complex heat exchanger topologies based on the modelling studies 4. Demonstration of the use of inexpensive prototype linear alternators 5. Development of feasibility of low cost regenerator material 6. Identification and adaptation of cost effective manufacturing technologies 5. Demonstration of feasibility of low cost regenerator material 6. Identification and adaptation of cost effective manufacturing technologies

This project is concerned with the development of a novel thermal management controller (TMC) for micro-Combined Heat and power (micro-CHP) systems. Stirling-engine based units for providing heat and electricity for individual houses are increasingly of interest and several units are entering the marketplace. However, their economic operation and their ability to satisfy user heat demands could be much improved by a more sophisticated thermal management system that combines highly effective storage of heat with the ability to release such stored energy in amounts and at times to accurately meet the nees of the consumer. Using phase change materials with high thermal conductivity (istead of a large water storage tank) and an innovative 'heat pipe' for controlling heat release, the partners believe that their TMC will accelerate the take-up of domestic micro-CHP, as well as having applications at the larger scale.

Composite structures are increasingly utilised in aircraft for their stiffness, light weight and corrosion resistance but are sensitive to impact damage that can produce defects such delaminations . Damaged areas that are visible are repaired using an adhesively bonded composite repair method. The repair process is sensitive to process parameters and small variations will lead to defects that may result in reduced mechanical integrity. The inspection of composite repairs is difficult and not yet sufficiently developed to meet inspection quality requirements. AURORAS will develop the Phased Array Ultrasonic Test (PAUT) technique incorporating 3D imaging with high resolution 'Total Focusing Method' (TFM) to non-destructively assess the damage in aerostructure composite components. Once the damage has been classified and sized, an in-situ repair process will be undertaken and the repair will be re-inspected to detect defects using a similar PAUT technique optimised for the composite repair material. The main project deliverables will be a prototype system spec, 3D imaging & TFM software, a demonstration trial showing the PAUT method on composite repair components. repairomponents provided by the partners.

Hull fouling is the largest contributor to excess fuel consumption and carbon emissions by ships, which can be up to 50% over a year. In spite of a global expenditure of some £6bn pa on fouling prevention and cleaning amongst the global merchant fleet, fouling still costs £8bn pa in additional fuel costs and produces 70m tonnes of additional carbon dioxide. The project goal is to develop an in service automated system for permanent fouling prevention, detection and removal based on a distributed, sparse network of low frequency (~40kHz) active ultrasonic compressional wave sensors embedded in a ship hull. In normal operation, temporary but continuous quasi forced standing waves will be excited throughout the hull, with power sufficient for ultrasound leakage into water from surface antinodes to produce cavitation. Cavitation will remove thin biofilms (i.e. microfouling) and their adhesion surface as fast as they are formed, thus preventing fouling build-up i.e. macrofouling. The frequency will be swept and different parts of the network sequentially excited scan the antinodes through 100% of the hull. This programme will remove biofilm over 100% of the hull and propeller surface, with minimum ON/OFF time for the continuous waves i.e. minimum time averaged power. Periodically, pulsed waves will be excited to detect accidental macrofouling up caused by imperfect biofilm removal, which will then be removed by a temporary increase in the continuous ON/OFF time followed by a return to normal operation. There exists the possibility, to be researched that the intial formation of biofouling can be prevented by ultrasonic force fields at sub-cavitation levels, further reducing the average power consumption.

The wholesale adoption of ACCC conductors in the energy supply market, which offer twice the power supply capacity of existing conductors, has been prevented due to concerns regarding their long term performance under ice-loading. Effective durable anti-ice accretion solutions do not exist. To address the current & pressing need to increase grid capacity using existing support infrastructure, we propose the development of an effective & durable anti-icing coating using cutting edge super hydrophobic technology. The application of this technology on ACCC conductors will facilitate their safe adoption in the market & deliver the following benefits: 1. Increase two fold the current carrying capacity of conductor lines, without upgrade of existing infrastructure; 2. Substantially reduce maintenance and associated costs (£900million savings) up to the year 2020 2. Reduced environmental impact as access to towers for foundation upgrades would not be required 4. Based on supply of energy to all UK homes (117,000 GWh per year), replacing 10% of existing ACSR lines with ACCC conductors will reduce line losses by 2,925GWh (£175million) and prevent 1.23million tonnes CO2.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has the potential to revolutionise the design, production and supply of parts, but exploitation has been limited. A major challenge for industry is to understand the true capability of the new techniques - especially making comparisons between machine platforms. The ANVIL project will overcome this issue, by bringing together key end-user sectors and AM experts to develop a standard way of assessing the capability of metal powder bed fusion processes. This approach will be used to compare the latest machines and the information generated will form the basis of an interactive design for AM guide. Application demonstrators will be designed using this guide and manufactured to provide case studies for promoting the effective use of AM technology. An AM-OLR (On-Line Resource) will be established to disseminate the findings and encourage sharing of data across the UK AM sector.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

SENTIENT (SENsors To Inform & Enable wireless NeTworks) aims to advance aircraft structural health management (SHM) using wireless sensor hetworks, WSN. Its key innovations are:(1)Small, light, low cost, low power demand sensors, (2) Quick and flexible installation, (3) More sensors in places not practical for wired installation. The main project objectives are: (1)Develop low/ self-powered WSN for SHM with sensor energy harvesting, (2)Create a SHM process validation prototype for visualising the health of an airframe structure. The main benefits are: a reduction in aircraft downtime, improved safety and weight reduction as ~30% of electrical wires are potential candidates for a wireless substitute.The expanded wide area coverage of wireless sensor networks can bring further important benefits: • More data can be collected and more reliably across interfaces between moving parts, • Simpler designs can be developed for lighter more efficient aircraft.The potential impacts are: • Societal – increased safety and less flight departure delays, • Environmental – reduced weight and CO2, • Economic – savings in fuel, less maintenance downtime.

Project 228135 develops a portable phototherapy device for the mobile treatment of skin conditions.

The PrinTEG project builds on the previous development work of a UK-based consortia of SMEs and RTD partners who have developed cutting edge thermo-electric silicide materials and automotive demonstrators that use these materials to generate electrical power from waste exhaust heat. The PrinTEG project aims to take this intellectual property and develop advanced automated manufacture and in-process sensing technologies to enable the low-cost, mass-manufacture of these thermo-electric generators. In so doing the consortium will maximise the chances that the manufacture of these technologies will be undertaken within the UK, rather than being lost to the Far-East, as has been the case with electronics manufacture over the last few decades. PrinTEG is a business-led consortium, with Jaguar Cars acting as the initial route to market for the technology. The specific developments to be undertaken within the project relate the development of: - Automated powder handling and mechanical forming technoligies for the creation of nano-structured thermo-electric material. - Automated sintering technologies for the creation of net-shape thermo-electrics without the need for wasteful cutting and milling. - Automated Pick + Place technologies for the handling and placement of the thermoelectic legs that are of complex shapes. - Automated brazing and in-process sensing to optimise speed, quality and yield for the fabrication of thermo-electic generators.

The majority of existing offshore wind turbines are built on monopile foundations, space-frame foundations (jackets) will be the foundations of choice for most new applications. This will enable wind turbines to be deployed at greater water depth, further from the shore leading to higher wind speeds and increased potential generation capacity per swept area. However, current manufacturing techniques for turbine jackets are non-serial and particularly labour intensive, a direct consequence of the manual fabrication methods typically used. The LaserJacket project will assess three innovative thick-section (>60mm) laser welding techniques, which have a high-productivity, are cost-effective, and suitable for the manufacture of thick-section turbine jackets. We will subsequently, down-select a single welding technique which will be further developed and demonstrated for applicability to offshore wind turbine jackets.

A new methodology for assessing residual stresses using non-contact thermography is proposed. Residual stresses are stresses that are hidden in structures usually developed during manufacturing. The addition of the residual and service stresses can bring the material close to failure. The purpose of the research is to identify the residual stresses at welds in service components. Most portable residual stress measurement techniques are destructive. Other non-destructive residual stress measurement techniques are not portable. The thermography approach is non-destructive and portable, therefore offering a means to investigate components in service without costly plant down time. The proposed technique has been validated in a laboratory environment. There are still significant challenges to be addressed to bring the system to market, which will be dealt with in the planned research work by an expert consortium.

The challenge we would like to address is the advancement of nuclear castings in the nuclear supply chain. Steel castings are used for the reactor coolant pump (RCP) casings for nuclear power stations. Both the Westinghouse AP1000 and Areva EPR designs use steel castings for this application. Sheffield Forgemasters carried out a product and material qualification program in order to become a preferred supplier for the Westinghouse design and is currently involved in a similar process for the Areva EPR.

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The Project aims to develop a cost effective and novel Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technique for the in-process examination of Friction Welds used in the fabrication of welded aluminium structures for the marine, rail, automotive and aerospace industries. The NDT development will be based on high frequency, oblique incident angle, Non-Linear Ultrasonic Testing (NLUT) that will have the capability of detecting early stage 'joint line defects' in the bond region (so called kissing bond) of the weld that has been inherently difficult to inspect because of the poor signal to noise ratio at the size of defects requiring detection against the weld material structure. Failure to detect the joint line defects at an early stage can lead to safety critical component failure with catastrophic consequences. The project will benefit UK industry by enabling the full potential of FSW and LFW to be exploited, this not having been previously possible due to the lack of commercial in-process NDT inspection technology.

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R&D on manufacturing technologies and new materials is boosting economy in an increasingly sustainable way. In this context, the appearance of HSS triggered new benefits. Of interest to this project is the mass production of a new generation of efficient vehicles as a result of reduced weight. The barrier preventing its commercialisation is the joining of car frame components without compromising the soundness of the structure. The goal of this project is to overcome such a barrier with the synergy of a combined effort of a world leader in car manufacturing, car suppliers, and a world leader in joining technologies. The project aims to push the state of the art in joining HSS materials and to implement the findings in serial production tests. Results of this project will activate a supply chain culminating in the mass commercialisation of a new electric vehicle .

Technical faults cause 19% of all transport delays in the rail network. Malfunctions of automatic train doors account for 20% of these technical faults, i.e. for almost 4% of all delays and there is recent and increasing interest in the use of remote condition monitoring (RCM) of these doors. So far the RCM systems implemented monitor only operational electronic and time parameters and use unusual values of these as an indicator of likely developing faults. However, the root cause of unusual electronic conditions are usually developing mechanical wear faults of multiple causes which eventually cause excessive noise, overheating and electrical failure. Therefore the aim of this project is the development of an embedded low cost system for the direct monitoring of the health of the door mechanisms through the vibrational spectra captured by an accelerometer, with abnormal accelerometer signatures being used to provide early automated warnings before door failure occurs.

RailSAFT aims to develop an affordable and reliable Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), automated ultrasonic inspection technique for high manganese, wear-resistant steel rail crossover points (Frogs). These are commonly used on the UK and global rail networks and are susceptible to in-service cracking due to high impact loads from rolling stock. The early detection of cracks at safety critical locations in rail is vital because they can propagate in service and may ultimately lead to failure with potentially catastrophic consequences. Flaws detected at an early stage in their growth cycle can be monitored/ assessed and repaired before risk of failure. Modelling & simulation methods will be used to develop algorithms for the precise control of the ultrasonic beam generated by phased array probes that are to be developed. Synthetic Aperture Focusing (SAFT) together with advanced signal processing will enhance Signal Noise Ratios thus improving defect detection in cast Frog rail sections.

To develop and implement next generation prosthetic interface liners which will utilise a novel manufacturing with embedded features that enhances benefit and comfort for lower limb amputees.

SCAMPER: Scale -up of Additive manufacturing with Materials manipulation Processing for higher performance and rEducing waste in manufacturing and Repair Technology Strategy Board: Technology Inspired Collaborative Research and Development – High Value Manufacturing TP number: 5684-44827 The key driver for SCAMPER is to reduce material waste for production and repair applications in the aerospace sector using Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques. AM via Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) significantly reduces material waste and enables direct manufacture of complex components in an expanded range of metallic alloys. SCAMPER will aim to improve LMD technology in terms of suitable materials, production rate and size of components for manufacture and repair applications. To meet these objectives two areas of LMD technology will be developed: Diffractive Optical Elements (DOE's) and robotic manipulation software. DOE's will enable the controlled delivery of high laser powers which will allow deposition of the desired material microstructure whilst increasing deposition rates. The robotic manipulation software will enable complex parts to be generated using laser deposition delivered by robotic arms. The total grant rewarded to the SCAMPER project is approximately £500k. The SCAMPER consortium brings together world leaders in DOE design in Laser Optical Engineering Ltd, AM software specialists Materialise Ltd, Robot supplier & system integrator Olympus Technologies Ltd and LMD Research & Development expertise from TWI Ltd. The project will be driven from end users EADS UK Ltd and Rolls Royce plc who will assist in exploitation of the LMD technology within the aerospace sector.

Solar energy is a potential contributor to our future energy needs, but has yet to achieve economic viability without the help of government subsidies. If successful, this project will progress towards commercialisation, an inherently more robust and cost-efficient option than photovoltaics. The concept is to use solar radiation to photocatalytically split water, producing hydrogen (which can be combusted directly or used to power a fuel cell) and oxygen. This is a research field where the UK is world leading at present, and this project will further reinforce this advantage. The scientific proof of concept for a device using this principle was facilitated by the Phase 1 EPSRC Grand Challenge funding; the project proposes to take forward the earlier work on the active components of the device, including researching several additional novel and scalable coating processes for producing more robust and higher performance photocatalyctic coatings, and for producing new nanopowders in larger volumes than before from which to produce these coatings.

Full title Verified approaches to life management & improved design of high temperature steels for advanced steam plants - VALID Summary of the VALID project The project explores the link between welding process and cross-weld creep strength for CSEF steel P92 and also the relationship between specimen geometry and weld width. Five different welding processes are being used to fabricate joints in P92 to allow acquisition of data over a wide range of process parameters and demonstrate the available welding technologies to industry. This will include the development of welding equipment and consumables. A demonstration of the creep performance of welds in new experimental steels will also be carried out. Consortium The consortium consists of seven official partners (see below, plus TSB Grant details) and six associates that have a strong involvement in the project Official Project partners: TWI Ltd – Grant £157,560 Air Liquide UK Ltd – Grant £147,390 Scottish & Southern Energy plc – Grant £12,750 Centrica Energy plc– Grant £12,000 Metrode Products Ltd – Grant £43,465 E.ON New Build & Technology Ltd - £26,117 Doosan Power Systems Ltd – Grant £26,268 Total Grant = £425,550 Associates: Polysoude SAS (Sub-Contractor) TenarisDalmine (Material Supplier) The Open University The University of Nottingham TU Chemnitz Industry Sector Power (primary) Secondary - ECM, Oil and gas, construction and engineering.

The LaserSnake project will prove the feasibility of a new remote cutting process targeted at decommissioning. This project will enable the nuclear decommissioning sector to have access to a low reaction force non-mechanical cutting technique for general decommissioning and work in confined spaces, which will allow remote but targeted removal of a range of materials and geometries. The laser cutting process is non-contact, so there is no reaction force on the material being cut. The significance of this is that both laser power source and the actuator pack for the snake-arm robot proposed for deployment are outside the contaminated area. The resulting implications are profound: Less physical equipment enters the radioactive region and that which does so is less complex, lighter and contains less energy, which reduces risk. Laser cutting is a well-established commercial process, producing edges of very high quality. However, use of a fibre laser to sever material remotely in ways required for decommissioning is a completely novel concept. The project will investigate the fundamentals of laser cutting materials typical of those found in cells in the nuclear industry. The objective of LaserSnake is to sever the components, whatever the geometry, from one side. The work will integrate a snake-arm robot, a fibre laser cutting system and a mock-up facility built by OC Robotics, in order to simulate the first ever fibre laser cutting in contaminated environments, with all operations conducted from outside the process area. Parameters to optimise cutting using this system will be researched. The scale of impact on the nuclear decommissioning sector is significant. In the long term, the systems proposed will cost up to 50% less than existing solutions, mainly because less of the equipment is nuclearised, and up to 50 percent less equipment will enter the hazardous area. The technology will also allow the cutting operation to be performed without human access to the area. Once fully developed the LaserSnake system will allow nuclear decommissioning (and in the long term, maintenance) to occur safer, faster and at reduced cost.

The ForgeMan project will examine the feasibility of fabricating large components for nuclear power plant, presently provided as forged monoblocks, by using novel thick section electron beam welding. Large forgings (eg 600 tonne) for primary circuit nuclear components can only be currently obtained from one or two specialist sources worldwide and these components are manufactured using very high cost and high capacity press equipment. The delivery schedule for new nuclear power stations are frequently determined by the availability of large forgings used in the PRW, and current lead times of several years are common. As the construction of nuclear plant continues to ramp up, the limited capacity to supply forgings will inevitably lead to longer lead times, and these large components will, as a result, command higher prices . The opportunity that the ForgeMan project has is to develop the technology that will enable the welding of very thick section (up to 400mm) steel and the combining of small forgings into larger components. The technique will be to use a process of electron beam welding and heat treatment that would be able to match the current forging in terms of metallurgy and properties. The project will examine how segments can be manufactured into the equivalent of single ring forgings, and how vessels can be better fabricated from ring forgings using the electron beam process. If successful Forgeman would lead to smaller forging companies being able to compete in the nuclear sector and this would provide much needed additional capacity for the UK nuclear build programme.

Safer, low-cost nuclear material storage through cold spray-formed boron carbide coated components (SafeStore) Transport and/or storage of spent nuclear fuel can require neutron shielding materials. Two such materials currently used are composite plate materials consisting of aluminium (or aluminium alloys) containing varying proportions of boron carbide particulates, which have a high neutron absorbing capability. Whilst these metal matrix composite (MMC) materials are suitable for specific niche applications, the current manufacturing route is unable to produce them in anything other than flat solid plates. This limits the design options for containers/canisters. In the SafeStore project, cold spray coating technology was used to develop a material that is similar to the MMC but can be applied to sheet metal fabrications in any desired thickness up to tens of millimetres. Cold spray technology facilitates the co-deposition of thermally sensitive and/or easily oxidised materials such as Al and B4C without thermal degradation. The coatings were developed and applied to steel samples and plates and the deposition parameters were then further improved to obtain higher levels of B4C in the coatings.The use of a coating results in better design flexibility and hence better and more cost-effective dry cask storage options. The project was led by Graham Engineering, a UK-based company with a strong track record in the supply of nuclear waste fuel containers. TWI conducted the coatings development work whilst Graham Engineering helped define the market needs and facilitated the characterisation and evaluation of the radiological performance of the coatings. Project Participants and TSB Grant Graham Engineering Ltd – Grant £27,000 TWI Ltd(Industrial) – Grant £67,500 Total Grant = £94,500

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The overall aim of this project is to combine component design and materials research to improve the performance of the G-TT tidal stream device, a novel concept in generating energy from tidal streams. The project will create lighter and more reliable turbines and demonstrate their commercial viability via a prototype. G-TT’s novel concept, innovated in the UK is distinct from existing run-of-river and tidal stream devices in that it causes the inflowing water to rotate, whereby the device’s specially designed turbine then captures the rotational kinetic energy. TidalDesign project seeks to research and select from advanced lightweight materials (High strength steels, light alloys (Al, and Ti) and composites) for this novel design to stream tidal energy. The target is therefore to combine an innovative component design (vortical flow turbine) and materials selection for creating lighter but durable turbines to demonstrate as a prototype that can ultimately reach commercial scale. The operating conditions require that the turbines have adequate fatigue and impact resistance, and that they do not break. Driven by the need for high energy efficiency, lighter structures with adequate integrity hence present potential opportunities thus have been the subject of some research and applied in other industry sectors, notably wind power and marine. It is hence the aim of this project to select materials and develop turbine blades that are suitable for industrial application and which have been validated as a result of testing within this project. The project will build on the findings of the small scale tests by examining application of the blade materials developed in the programme to larger scale prototype components

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Acetabular and femoral bone resorption is one of the few remaining clinical challenges to be addressed when considering the long term success of orthopaedic joint replacements, particularly in hip prostheses. Bone resorption around the proximal femoral stem and acetabular cup due to stress shielding contributes to bone loss and reduced bone mineral density, ultimately leading to clinical complications such as periprosthetic fracture, aseptic loosening, joint pain and the loss of bone. The aim of project SHIELD is to develop novel acetabular and femoral components that minimise bone resorption. This will be achieved through a combination of component design and material optimisation by which the load transfer from prosthesis to bone will attempt to mimic bone stress levels pre-operation. Bone resorption during the ageing process will be predicted through finite element models of the physiological scenario derived from in-vivo CT/MRI images. These models will allow state-of-the-art optimisation algorithms to be employed for the implant design and subsequent analyses. Structural integrity will be tested through a series of laboratory tests including cadaveric studies, that will validate predictions from finite element models and evaluate clinical viability. Tribological performance and biocompatibility studies will be evaluated through state-of-the-art methodologies.

The RAPIDPART Project will deliver step change reductions in the manufacturing cost of laser powder bed deposition, or Selective Laser Melting (SLM), by significantly increasing the build rate of the process. The targeted 500% increase in productivity will enable this high value, flexible and environmentally-friendly process to become commercially viable for a more widespread range of applications, giving the UK a technical advantage and world lead in laser additive manufacture.

The original goal of the project was to facilitate the the underlying research needed to create a UK based, high value, sustainable titanium plant, initally in niche powders and ultumately in volume titanium markets.

SHeMS is a collaborative project developing a lightweight structural health monitoring system for aircraft. Through the development and application of energy harvesting, acoustic emission, and acousto-ultrasonic techniques the project will develop a prototype system that is capable of determining the structural integrity of critical aircraft component. The system will comprise of a network of independent acoustic devices that are self-sustaining and communicate by wireless technology. The SHeMS project is an opportunity to make a major leap forward in reliability and safety in the aerospace industry by offering continuous inspection coverage for aircraft both on the ground and in flight. Existing Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques, while effective, rely on taking an aircraft out of service. This downtime is expensive and means that there are large time periods between inspections. The continuous coverage offered by the SHeMS system will enable the identification of delamination, fibre breakage, corrosion, fatigue, and impact damage faults at an earlier stage and will therefore reduce the length of downtime and facilitate more effective maintenance schedules.

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The main aim of the project, is to develop an integrated production system incorporating all of the processes required for cost effective, rapid and reliable remanufacturing. Currently, most remanufacturing involves a series of operations on different pieces of equipment, which might even be in different companies. Furthermore, each process is labour intensive and dependent upon the skill of the operator. This makes the overall process inefficient, expensive and difficult to manage. The new RECLAIM system, which is developed during the project, combines laser cladding, machining and in-process scanning in a single machining cell. While the main focus will be on the repair of damaged parts, it is planned that the new equipment could also be used to manufacture new metal parts, to upgrade obsolete parts and to reconfigure standard parts for specialist, low-volume applications.

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The AVLAM project, which started in June 2008, undertook ground-breaking research into the use of Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) in conjunction with advanced CAD/CAM techniques to enable cost effective and environmentally sustainable high value manufacturing. The flexibility of the ALM process and its ability to produce complex net-shape parts with little or no material waste was seen as an attractive enabling technology for a future low-carbon economy, with the UK leading the world in this field. In AVLAM, commercially available Titanium Alloy powder and Titanium matrix composites were used to produce net shape components, minimising waste from the manufacturing process whilst also reducing the weight of structural parts through material tailoring and topology optimisation. This represented a step change in manufacturing technology, and potentially defining ALM as key enabler for many innovative engineering products in the future. The consortium included Partners from different areas of the development and supply chain. These included EADS Innovation Works, Bombardier Aerospace, The Welding Insititute (TWI), Materialise, TISICS and the University of Exeter. This partnership included two of the largest European aerospace manufacturers, as well as a number of ALM technology experts, Metal Matrix Composite experts and Universities. Between them the consortium has access to a wide range of ALM equipment, such as MTT SLM systems, Concept Laser M2, EOS M270, Arcam A2, Accufusion Laser Consolidation, Trumpf DMD505, and a bespoke system where a 7kW laser beam is manipulated using a high accuracy robot.

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This project will deliver breakthrough developments in new, low emission, low energy, environmentally benign routes for the treatment of polymer scrap. By using ''highly tuneable'' ionic liquids, polymer materials will be specifically extracted from appropriate waste across all parts of the supply chain. The project has 3 strands: treatment of post-industrial composite packaging waste; separation of heavy metal additives from recovered PVC; production of polymer powders from separated polymer waste. For each strand, processes and their impact under the ZEE approach will be delivered in exploitable ''technology packages''. By capitalising on these developments, this industry-driven consortium will enable the UK polymer industry to lead in reducing its reliance on key feedstocks, reducing energy consumption by allowing the reuse of materials without their degradation, and in some cases, without harmful additives that may limit their application.

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The ADEPT-SiP project is directed at the development and demonstration of a rigorous, right-first-time design and supply chain management methodology for novel System-in-Package Electronics Product Functions. The project will address schematic capture, partitioning and active device, substrate and package design to meet specific performance, cost, size and weight targets. Other key design stages will include thermal and EMC design, and design-for-manufacture, test, reliability and for environmental impact. Novel, high density embedded passive substrate technologies will be designed and simulated, process characterisation undertaken and parameterised component models developed for the full range of passive components and interconnection and assembly structures. The core design, simulation and modelling activities will be proven in System-in-Package technology demonstrators.

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No abstract available.