Through-life performance: From science to instrumentation

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The proposed research is part of a long-term research agenda to develop High Value Manufacturing (HVM) products withlonger functional life and lower whole life cost. The research will deliver to the recently published national strategy on'engineering services' and a 2025 vision - achieving our goal of 20% reduction in whole life cost with 20% increase inavailability during the life of a product across more than £20bn of UK manufacturing sector output. A White Paperon 'Making Things Work. Engineering for life - developing a strategic vision' (Cranfield University, 2015), recognised that the UK has a declining 5% share of a rising global market in 'service and support' that currently exceeds £490 billion. Over 50% of the revenue comes from export. The global market will grow to £710 billion by 2025 [IBISWorld Industry report on Global Engineering Services, 2015]. Despite this there are around 107,000 people working in the "sector" in the UK withaverage wages 1.5 times those in wider manufacturing [Office of National Statistics (ONS) Data, Dec 2014]. Today morethan 50% of revenue in the aerospace and defence sectors comes from the service contracts. For example the Rolls-Royce 'Total Care' contracts and related support activities. The contracts would never have been so successful withoutunderpinning 'through-life performance' research. Both the Foresight Report on 'The Future of Manufacturing: A new era ofopportunity and challenge for the UK' (The Government Office for Science, London, 2013) and the White Paper portray theimportance of developing engineering services and support capability but recognise there is little underpinning science andgood practice available to the extended service supply chain needed for UK competitiveness and productivity. This platformgrant will contribute to an increase of around 3% (a total of 8%) in the UK's share of the global market.The aim of the platform grant is to sustain a world leading team with strategic research capability on through-lifeperformance improvement, including complex in-situ degradation assessment technologies. The team betweenCranfield and Nottingham Universities have worked together over the last ten years. They have a very strong portfolio ofcurrent research projects and publication record, this research will develop the team as an international centre ofexcellence in 'through-life performance improvement'. This is the only research group internationally focusing on this area in respect of HVM. The grant will accelerate career of the world-class researchers and support them to become internationally leading researchers. Current research capabilities still focus upon single degradation modelling and assessment. There is however, a significant lack of knowledge and models for compound degradation (e.g. the interaction of more than one failure mechanism; corrosion, fatigue and the role temperature plays in modifying the degradation processes). The research will take on a challenge to study and model compound degradations for mechanical components, give feedback on the degradation to design and manufacturing and develop instrumentation to assess (i.e. measure size and depth) the degradations in-situ, including in in-accessible areas. Understanding degradation science better (both single and then compound) is essential to extend the life of mechanical components and therefore availability of the HVM products. In-situ assessment of the compound degradation through very small service access holes will reduce the maintenance cost significantly.The research team will be supported by partner organisations: Rolls-Royce, Bombardier, Network Rail, SMD Ltd, HVM Catapult, XP School. They will directly benefit from the research along with other 500 HVM Companies.