A new £5 million UK research programme is aiming to help engineers detect hidden defects in critical infrastructure – from aircraft components to nuclear power systems.
As part of the Frontiers in Electromagnetic Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) Research (FENDER) programme, scientists from the University of Strathclyde alongside colleagues from the Universities of Manchester, Warwick, Bristol and Newcastle, will develop advanced electromagnetic inspection technologies capable of operating in extreme environments and analysing complex materials.
The project, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), aims to build on existing inspection methods with faster, safer and more automated solutions, including robotic systems that can inspect components during manufacturing.
By enabling real-time quality control in areas such as metal additive manufacturing and high-temperature industrial processes, the programme could significantly reduce costs, improve safety and accelerate innovation across multiple sectors.
Robotic systems
Strathclyde will lead research on integrating electromagnetic (EM) NDE with robotic systems to enable fully automated inspection, delivered through the Sensor Enabled Automation, Robotics, and Control Hub (SEARCH) in Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering.
The work, supported by the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, will also explore augmented and mixed reality (XR) tools to present quantified inspection results to industry. The team will demonstrate a robot arm autonomously inspecting a previously unseen, complex component, with inspection data viewable remotely in real time using XR.
Dr Ehsan Mohseni, Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Ultrasonic Engineering (CUE) at Strathclyde, said: “By combining sensing, modelling and robotics we can move towards faster, more reliable and more flexible systems that work in environments where existing techniques struggle.
Our aspiration is to pave the way in deploying these advances with our industry partners across the engineering sector.
In addition to its research programme, FENDER will work closely with industry partners to develop real-world applications and train the next generation of engineers through a cohort of PhD studentships with strong industrial collaboration.
The project will hold a launch event in Manchester on July 9-10 where industry representatives can share their views and find out more about how they can get involved.