| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/S001174/1 |
| Title: |
AME NDT (Anisotropic Media Evaluation for Non-Destructive Testing) |
| Principal Investigator: |
Tant, Dr K |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Mathematics and Statistics |
| Organisation: |
University of Strathclyde |
| Scheme: |
EPSRC Fellowship - NHFP |
| Starts: |
29 June 2018 |
Ends: |
28 December 2021 |
Value (£): |
283,726
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Image & Vision Computing |
Manufacturing Machine & Plant |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
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| Related Grants: |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
Manufacturing is a key activity of the UK economy and accounts for more than half of all UK exports. The ability to reliably
test components at every stage, from manufacture to end of service, is crucial for maximising economic growth, minimising
environmental impact and ensuring public safety. End of life inspection is particularly important as much of the UK's
infrastructure is ageing and, due to global financial pressures, cannot be replaced. Thus, the lifetimes of key UK assets,
such as nuclear plants, must be extended. Ultrasonic non-destructive testing presents an economically and
environmentally desirable solution for detecting damage in such components. Similar to medical ultrasound, ultrasonic
waves can be passed through industrial components and subsequently collected, without damaging their internal
composition. Large networks of sensors, typically arranged in linear arrays, are deployed to carry out these inspections,
resulting in large volume, noisy, time-series data. Mathematical algorithms are then required to decipher the information
encoded within these recorded signals and construct images of the component's interior. Such algorithms are fundamental
enablers of the fourth industrial revolution facilitated by robotics and automated systems, which are largely dependent on
accurate sensing, measurement and imaging systems. In many cases, the component under inspection exhibits an
anisotropic, heterogeneous microstructure (that is, the material properties are directionally dependent and vary spatially in
a random fashion). This is detrimental to standard imaging methodologies as the ultrasonic wave is bent and scattered by
microstructural features and the responses from defects are obscured. Examples of such difficult to inspect materials
include coarse grained steel welds and carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. In fact, materials with complex
and highly scattering microstructures are becoming increasingly common as industries continue to invest in the
development of lighter, stronger composite materials. To combat the difficulties in imaging within these materials, the
current, cutting-edge imaging research within the NDT community endeavours to map the spatially varying material
properties using time of flight tomography. However, time-of-flight tomography uses only one data point from each recorded
time series and thus does not fully exploit the wealth of information made available by the inspection. The first objective of
the proposed research is to develop a material mapping methodology which exploits the full recorded signal, addressing
the non-uniqueness issues faced by time-of-flight tomography. This will be achieved via the development of new
mathematical models that capture the varying properties of heterogeneous media using probability theory and stochastic
models. The resulting material maps will then be incorporated into an advanced imaging system whereby the deviation of the
ultrasonic wave path in the heterogeneous media can be corrected for so that reliable defect detection can be ensured. The second
objective of the proposed research is to create an algorithm which can reconstruct complete datasets from incomplete
observations using novel matrix and tensor completion techniques (an emerging area within data-science), facilitating
faster inspection times and real-time imaging.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.strath.ac.uk |