BLADE - Bristol Laboratory for Advanced Dynamics Engineering

Update on developments in BLADE – July 2008

Active Research Areas
The range of research activities which are based in the suite of BLADE laboratories has expanded during the past year and the current list of major research areas with a strong experimental content is:

• Aerospace Structures  (Prof N Lieven; Prof D J Ewins; Dr F Scarpa)
• Earthquake and Large Structures  (Prof C Taylor; Dr J Macdonald)
• Composite Materials (Prof M Wisnom; Dr I Bond)
• Structural Integrity and Residual Stress ( Prof D J Smith; Dr C Truman)
• Non-destructive Testing and Evaluation (Prof B Drinkwater; Dr P Wilcox)
• Automatic Control & Test  (Prof D P Stoten)
• Geomechanics (Prof D Muir Wood; Dr E Ibrahim)
• Electrical Machines (Prof P Mellor)
• Smart Structures  (Prof M Friswell; Dr D Wagg)
• Smart/Rotating Machines  (Prof D J Ewins; Prof M I Friswell)
• Non-linear Dynamics  (Prof A Champneys; Prof B Krauskopf; Dr R Wilson)

Illustrations of some recent projects in these areas are available here.

Collaborative Centres of Excellence
Based on this extensive range of technological capabilities, there have been continued developments of Industrial Partnerships. As a result, there are now 6 Centres of Excellence with major industrial involvement established with a major stake in the BLADE laboratories:

• Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS)
• AgustaWestland UTC in Vibration Reduction
• EPSRC Research Centre for Non-destructive Evaluation (RCNDE)
• Rolls-Royce Composites University Technology Centre (UTC)
• 'SmartComp' GE Aviation University Technology Strategic Partnership (UTSP)
• Systems Performance Centre: a Research Alliance with British Energy

Other strategic alliances are currently under discussion in the civil, defence and aerospace sectors.

Strategic Review for Future Development of BLADE
During the past year, a detailed review has been undertaken of the current research strengths in BLADE with a view to developing a strategy for the next (its second) decade.  The review has revealed very clearly that there are two primary areas of research in BLADE: one which can be summarised as “21st Century Testing” and another which is directed towards “21st Century Products”. It is proposed to build the second phase of BLADE’s development on these major capabilities.  Accordingly, two new centres will be established in order to grow and to exploit what has been a significant investment not only in facilities and equipment, but also in the research capability and expertise vested in a large number of academic and research personnel

Thus, although the details have still to be fully developed, it has been agreed to establish a Centre of Excellence which will coordinate and extend the various  specialisations that already exist in what can be generically described as “High-Performance Testing”. Philosophically, and practically, a primary objective of this initiative is to ensure that the widespread development of high-performance computing, and the associated numerical analysis that accompanies this, is balanced by matching experimental and testing technologies of an equally high effectiveness and value.

The other initiative will be to establish an Institute for Smart and Emerging Technologies. This Institute will be the first of its kind in the UK and will serve to coordinate, integrate and extend the many research activities in BLADE which can be identified as ‘smart’ technologies. These include: multi-functional materials, intelligent devices, adaptive structures and smart machines.

The underlying philosophy of these future developments for BLADE has 2 central strands. First, it is believed that the solutions to today’s major challenges – energy, health, security, transportation and so on. – will depend on significant progress being made in the ‘smart’ technologies, with future materials, structures and vehicles required to achieve much improved efficiency, reliability and intelligence. Second, it is also believed that the essential technologies which will be required to deliver these new ‘devices’ will demand a much closer fusion of theoretical, numerical and experimental techniques than has been possible in the past. This fusion is a central goal for BLADE and so with its state-of the-art laboratories, ‘in-house’ advanced mathematical expertise and access to one of the county’s largest high-performance computing facilities, BLADE is ideally placed to make major contributions to these critical future engineering challenges.

What is BLADE?
This leaflet - which you can download here - provides a summary of the Past, Present and Future of BLADE.

Enquiries
Enquiries about the current or planned activities in BLADE can be addressed to the Director, Professor David Ewins, at d.ewins@bristol.ac.uk.