The UTC has a wealth of experience materials characterisation, fatigue testing, solids modelling, and wear characterisation. The varied work the UTC undertakes includes the characterisation of materials at room temperature as well as elevated temperatures. The team has expertise in the following types of materials testing:
- Tensile
- Creep and creep-fatigue
- Fretting and sliding wear
- Fatigue, including low- and high-cycle fatigue.
It is also possible to do bespoke testing of components, such as shafts, splines, and couplings, and the team has experience in working with additive manufactured components.
Alongside the experimental work, the team has expertise in many commercial FEA systems, including ANSYS, ABAQUS, LS-DYNA, and DEFORM. The manufacturing process can be simulated, including the prediction and validation of residual stresses, for a wide range of processes such as welding, forming, machining, and forging. These models are used to predict microstructure evolution of materials in components during manufacturing and through service life. The team has experience in the development of computationally efficient methods for predicting wear and fatigue of components, particularly relating to in-service conditions.