Aerospace and nuclear power are industries where the structural integrity of materials and components is of prime importance.
Professors Mike Fitzpatrick and John Bouchard of the OU’s Materials Engineering Group are leading research into the structural integrity of safetycritical applications in the aerospace and nuclear industries. Work on the characterisation of material properties and internal stresses helps to ensure safety of the designs.
Working with the nuclear industry, their research assesses the residual stresses and integrity of welded joints, in order to improve the performance of metallic materials in nuclear power applications. Initial work on residual stresses in welded structures led to collaborative work with Airbus looking at integral structures for aerospace through a programme assessing novel bonded crack retarders. This was in order to
improve damage tolerance and hence increase the life span of such structural assemblies. This concept is currently being taken through to the design stage.
The research has resulted in the development and application of advanced experimental techniques – such as neutron diffraction for residual
stress measurement, and the new worldleading contour method for residual stress analysis (with research funded by Rolls-Royce and EMDA). Novel software packages for experimental design and simulation, which are licensed at leading experimental facilities around the world,
have also been developed.
To find out more visit www.open.ac.uk/structural-integrity
