Projects

Period

2019 - 2024

Principal Investigator: Professor Paul Wilcox and Professor Robert Smith

Funded by: Programme Grant - EPSRC (EP/S017038/1)

Project partners: University of Southampton, University of Bath

Summary

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Period

2019 - 2024

Principal Investigator: Professor Bruce Drinkwater

Funded by: Programme Grant - EPSRC (EP/S016813/1)

Summary

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Period

2018 - 2020

Principal Investigator: Professor Paul Wilcox

Funded by: The Alan Turing Institute

Summary

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Period

2017 - 2021

Principal Investigator: Professor Bruce Drinkwater

Funded by: European Commission’s EURATOM 

Summary

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Period

2014-2020

Principal Investigator: Professor Bruce Drinkwater

Funded by: EPSRC through RCNDE (EP/L022125/1)

Summary

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Period

2015-2020

Principal Investigator: Dr Anthony Croxford

Funded by: EPSRC (EP/M022528/1)

• BAE Systems, United Kingdom 
• AMEC Nuclear UK Limited, United Kingdom 
• E.ON New Build and Technology Ltd, United Kingdom 
• Rolls-Royce plc, United Kingdom

 Summary

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Period

2016-2019

Principal Investigator: Professor Bruce Drinkwater

Funded by: EPSRC (EP/N014197/1)

Summary

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Period

2016-2019

Principal Investigator: Professor Paul Wilcox

Funded by: EPSRC (EP/N015924/1)

Project partners

• BAE Systems, United Kingdom 
• AMEC Nuclear UK Limited, United Kingdom 
• E.ON New Build and Technology Ltd, United Kingdom 
• Rolls-Royce plc, United Kingdom

Summary

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Period

2016-2018

Principal Investigator: Professor Bruce Drinkwater

Funded by: EPSRC (EP/N017641/1) in collaboration with The Japanese Ministry of Education Sport Culture and Technology (MEXT) and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)

Summary

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Please visit the project summary and documentation associated with the development of a common file format for Multi-Frame Matrix Capture data (Full Matrix Capture and associated techniques).

Summary

Please visit the link for the project summary.

Period

2013-2018

Principal Investigator: Professor Robert Smith 

Funded by: EPSRC (EP/K037315/1)

Period

2013-2016

Project partners

• BAE Systems Submarine Solutions
• EDF-Energy
• Rolls Royce Naval Marine
• Sellafield Limited
• SERCO Limited
• Airbus

Summary

Ultrasonic arrays have seen a dramatic increase in industrial up-take over recent years to the point where it seems possible that NDE array inspections will completely replace the present industry-standard single point measurements over the course of the next decade. The current NDE array approach is based heavily on a combination of rapid beamforming equipment, developed originally for medical ultrasound, and inspection strategies that follow approaches developed originally for single element probes. Whilst using an array in this way undoubtedly delivers good imaging in some circumstances, it is far from obvious how close to optimal it is.

This project addresses the fundamental questions at the heart of NDE: how first to quantify and then optimise the performance of an inspection. The selection of parameters to quantify performance is critical and depends on the purpose of the inspection (e.g. defect detection or sizing) and will be informed by input from the industrial partners.

 A modelling framework will be developed that allows array inspections to be designed to optimise the chosen parameter (e.g. probability of detection, sizing accuracy). This optimisation framework will be based on rapid forward models, a sound understanding of the factors that most strongly influence the choice of array inspection configuration and a rigorous statistical methodology.

This latter aspect is particularly important as some level of uncertainty is inherent in all NDE inspection: this can range from unknown defect orientation through to unknown velocity distributions. This modelling framework will not only allow for inspections of complex parts to be optimised, but the exploration of the relevant parameter space will inform current best practice and help in tasks such as choice of secondary inspection. Together these developments will produce a step change in the performance of arrays leading to improved inspection reliability, safer structures and ultimately reduced design conservatism.

The project is part of the UK Research Centre in NDE (RCNDE), the funding for which is earmarked by EPSRC for industrially driven research. The project is also supported financially by Rolls-Royce, Sellafield, BAE Systems, SERCO and EDF.

Period

2010-2013

Funded by

• EPSRC (Grant no. EP/H010920/1) through RCNDE
• Airbus
• Rolls Royce

Academic collaborators

• University of Nottingham

Summary

Recent years have seen increasing interest in the use of thick-section composites for safety-critical components in, for example, primary aircraft structure and fan blades in aero engines. All such components are required to undergo non-destructive evaluation (NDE) during manufacture; this is time consuming and NDE throughput is stretched to its limit internationally. Current composite Non-destructive Evaluation (NDE) is based on a qualitative empirical approach where a single normal-incidence ultrasonic probe is used to estimate the average ultrasonic attenuation from the amplitude of the back-wall reflection. While adequate for accepting or rejecting thin composite panels, this approach does not provide the level of defect characterisation and localisation necessary for the quantitative NDE of larger components. There is a clear and pressing industrial need for quantitative NDE techniques that can be applied to safety-critical composite components both at manufacture and in-service. An ultrasonic technique is the industrially preferred option for reasons of cost, safety and ease of deployment, but increased scanning speeds are required to speed up throughput. However, the conflicting demands of rapid scanning, high-penetration depth and accurate defect characterisation cannot be achieved with a single normal-incidence probe. Instead the data from multiple inspection directions must be combined. The necessary raw data can be rapidly and efficiently obtained using an ultrasonic array, but at present it cannot be exploited. This is due to the lack of (a) an appropriate forward model of oblique wave propagation and scattering processes, and (b) a suitable inversion scheme to turn the raw data into useful information. This is the motivation for the proposed research programme, the aim of which is to develop ultrasonic array data processing techniques based on physical reasoning for the characterisation of safety-critical aerospace composites. The programme requires advancement of the fundamental science of wave phenomena in composites, the solution of a challenging inverse problem and, crucially, the translation of the scientific findings into practical industrial solutions.