Advanced materials capabilities

Structural integrity laboratory

Fatigue life of aircraft fuselage In a project with Airbus, structural joints and friction stir welded fuselage structures were studied for fatigue life and long fatigue crack propagation rate. The process of peening improved the fatigue life of fuselage structural joints by up to four times and application of peening in retarding fatigue crack propagation was studied and modelled by FEA (Finite Element Analysis). This study helped to develop fundamental science on fatigue crack propagation.

The influence of residual stresses on the structural integrity of renewable energy marine structures Fatigue crack growth tests in air and seawater using a new neutron imaging facility – IMAT (Imaging and Materials Science and Engineering) – to measure the residual stresses on fatigue, fracture mechanics and structural integrity in welded components of offshore wind turbine foundations is taking place at both Cranfield and the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, based at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

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