Wed, 21 August, 2019
Two collaborative projects funded from the UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Nuclear Innovation Programme have been shortlisted for The Engineer’s ‘Collaborate to Innovate’ awards, which will take place this November. The projects, ‘Inform’ and ‘Simple’, consider two different approaches to manufacturing, fabrication and inspection of large complex components for the nuclear power industry.
The Inform (Intelligent Fixtures for Optimised and Radical Manufacture) Project aimed to develop an adaptive fixturing system that allows the ease of movement for large parts around a factory for the purpose of manufacturing large cylindrical parts such as mid-range reactor pressure vessels.
The Inform project was managed by the Nuclear AMRC and work was delivered by TWI, Sheffield Forgemasters, MetLase and Cambridge Vacuum Engineering. TWI used its expertise in welding to help develop a novel approach to local vacuum electron beam welding technology to join thick sections in a single pass without the need for a vacuum chamber large enough to contain the entire assembly.
Meanwhile, the Simple Project investigated the integration of machining, fabrication and inspection operations into a single platform. This, in turn, would reduce the need to move large components between different work areas, thereby ensuring accuracy and quality control. The final technology has clear applications for improving productivity on components measuring at least two metres, such as pressure vessel sections and casings as well as having a use for the decommission of waste containers.
Once again working with the Nuclear AMRC, TWI took the lead on developing a visual inspection system for narrow gap TIG welding. Videos of the weld pool were recorded and used to train a neural network for real-time assessment of defects in the welds. Other project partners included the Advanced Forming Research Centre at the University of Strathclyde, the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre at the University of Sheffield, the University of Sheffield’s physics department and Peak NDT. The project was also supported by a number of nuclear industry partners, including reactor developers and operators and decommissioning site owners.
The two sister projects took differing approaches to the challenge of large complex nuclear plants – being a ‘parts to process’ and a ‘process to parts’ approach, accordingly.
The projects have been nominated for the Manufacturing Technology category of The Engineer magazine’s ‘Collaborate to Innovate Awards 2019,’ with the winners due to be announced in London in November.