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Flight safety has been a major focus in the past sixteen years at the Civil Safety and Security Unit (CSSU), affiliated with the University of Leicester's School of Management. The knowledge created has had three impacts. First, the development of a tailored fatigue-risk management system (FRMS) now in operation in a night-freight airline. FRMS provides for the development and validation of rosters that optimise crews' economic and safety performance, saving lives and money. Until this research no UK-registered night-freight airline had operated a FRMS. Second, the research underpins the evidence-base for the British Air Line Pilots' Association (BALPA) in its lobbying of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Third, the research is supporting the Society for the Welfare of Indian Pilots (SWIP) in its campaign for safe flight-time limitations (FTLs).
Quality of life for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has improved, responding to their stated major priority for help with fatigue. Their self-management of fatigue has improved using our cognitive-behavioural therapy intervention. Over 30,000 patients and healthcare professionals a year request our resulting self-management booklet, distributed via Arthritis Research UK.
This group's research spearheaded a new international patient/professional consensus that fatigue must be measured in all clinical trials. Along with the Bristol RA Fatigue scales, which we developed (translated into 35 languages) this has helped to place fatigue at the centre of drug development by changing the way the pharmaceutical industry performs multi-national drug trials.
Nursing management has now improved demonstrably. Fatigue evaluation and intervention have now been recommended in national guidelines.
Research at Portsmouth has had a major impact on risk reduction, improved service life and reduced inspection/maintenance costs of safety critical and expensive fan and compressor components in military and civil aero-engines, as demonstrated particularly by the Liftfan Blisk manufactured by Rolls-Royce.
The research outcomes have also impacted on the specification of design stress levels by Rolls-Royce and MOD for aerofoils susceptible to FOD, enabling damage size inspection limits to be established at higher and more economic levels. The research has also provided increased confidence in the application of weld-repair of FOD and of surface treatment using Laser Shock Peening against FOD.
Seafarer fatigue is a major issue for the safety and economics of shipping and the protection of the marine environment. Estimates suggest that 25% of marine casualties are caused by fatigue.
Project HORIZON demonstrated that sleepiness levels for some watch-keeping regimes are high, and actual sleep can occur. The main outcome of the project was a fatigue prediction model for use by voyage planners to ease workloads on ships' crews.
The introduction of such fatigue risk mitigation measures will potentially save lives, have an impact on the competitive success of global shipping companies, and bring significant economic and environmental benefit.
Research at Portsmouth has significantly improved the understanding of damage tolerance under creep-fatigue-oxidation conditions experienced in aero-engine components. The understanding has been developed through research on a new-generation disc materials including U720Li and RR1000, which have since been used in Rolls-Royce engines including Trent 900 in Airbus A380, Trent 1000 in Boeing 787 and the latest Trent for Airbus A350 XWB. These new materials have enabled aircraft to operate more efficiently at higher temperatures, with a major impact on CO2 emission and a significant impact on economy due to the new market opportunities and the reduction of operating costs.
The impact of this research has been evident in a change of practice regarding the consideration of fatigue in musculoskeletal profiling, and as an aetiological risk factor for injury. This change in practice is evidenced across a range of user groups, influencing evidence-based practice in both the clinical and sporting context. The body of research has generated a shift in the consideration of fatigue with regards sporting injury incidence. Postgraduate teaching has evolved to consider injury prevention strategies in relation to fatigue, and Governing Body injury audits have cited this research in working toward injury prevention policies.
We have optimised aerospace structural designs and assessment methods through development and application of hybrid residual stress characterisation techniques. Our research results on bonded crack retarders have redirected industry development programmes on hybrid metal laminate material systems and been used to evaluate reinforced structural concepts for US Air Force wing and fuselage applications. Methods to assess and mitigate maintenance-induced damage have been developed and implemented based on our research. Our contour measurement technology has been transferred to the US Air Force, which now has the capability to perform measurements in-house and support work with both NASA and the US Navy.
Research into a number of different aspects of rubber has fed into a series of extremely successful collaborations between Queen Mary and a large number of industrial partners. This has led to significant economic impacts, ranging from enhancing the performance of teams in the multi-billion dollar sport of Formula 1 Racing, to helping develop new UK designed and manufactured radial tyres for large civil aircraft. Rubber research has been undertaken continuously at QMUL for over five decades. Prof. James Busfield has led the activity since 1994, working with more than 30 major industrial collaborators, including Bridgestone, Dunlop, Red Bull Racing F1 and TARRC, who have applied our research and employed our researchers to achieve commercial and competitive advantage.