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Having itself developed Dynamical Energy Analysis (DEA), a numerical simulation tool that significantly enhances the modelling of noise and vibration (NV) in large-scale engineering structures in the mid- to high-frequency range, The University of Nottingham (UoN) has advanced the method to a practical numerical tool used in a commercial environment. By working with industrial partners, the team has influenced numerical simulation products developed by consultants to the transport sector and obtained investment in the new technology from vehicle manufacturers.
The method provides time and cost savings by making it possible to undertake NV modelling over the entire frequency range, and further contributes to the industry's objectives to reduce traffic noise and enhance passenger comfort.
Research at the University of Southampton has redefined understanding of the potential rapidity of sea level rise above the present, and of the relationship between climate change and sea level. It has informed the "worst-case scenario" for climate change flood risk assessment in the UK as well as key adaptation policy documents throughout Europe, North America and Australasia. Impact generation occurs mainly though active public engagement, which ensures widespread international media attention, and through direct interaction with the Environment Agency (EA) and UK Climate Impact Programme (UKCIP) which have now joined the research group in a £3.3 million consortium project to better define the "worst case scenario".
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) research conducted in the Spatial Planning and Impact Assessment Research Group (SPIA) since 2004 has examined how policy makers can support a high level of environmental protection through integration of environmental considerations into the preparation and adoption of policy. Research has made a key difference to the capacity of policy makers to shape more environmentally sustainable policy through evidence based policy making which is informed by environmental assessment procedures and techniques. Research findings have fed into guidance and other documents of national and international organisations in relation to designing environmentally sustainable policy.
Designs for complex structures like cars, aeroplanes and modern buildings suffer from unpredictable vibrations that lead to anything from irritating noises to dangerous structural failures. Predicting the distribution of vibrational energy in large coupled systems is an important and challenging task of major interest to industry. Until recently there was no reliable method to predict vibrations at the important mid-to-high frequency ranges.
There is a need to gain accurate predictions of vibrations at the design stage. However, previous techniques developed in the context of Quantum Chaos are too cumbersome to be used in a fast-moving commercial design setting. Bandtlow has used his expertise to develop a novel method that computes a very close approximation to these predictions but in a reasonable time. Bandtlow's method of constructing an efficient mathematical model for spectral vibrations has informed inuTech's latest product and led to enhanced performance of automobiles and aircraft.
The impact arises from the study of extreme ocean waves and their interaction with marine structures. It is relevant to the offshore, shipping, coastal and marine renewables industries and has been both economic and regulatory, involving:
(a) The establishment of revised guidelines for the design of new structures / vessels.
(b) Enhancing best practice, both from an economic and a safety perspective.
(c) Reducing the uncertainty in critical design issues, thereby improving overall reliability.
(d) Enabling "end-of-life" extensions for existing structures.
(e) Facilitating the effective decommissioning of redundant structures.
(f) Contributing to the development of new industrial R&D equipment, thereby assisting specialist UK manufacturers to secure international orders.
Impact: Economic benefits arising from new exploitations of North Sea oil and gas fields (2008 - June 2013), including oil production at the Bentley field by Xcite Energy Ltd and gas production at the Wissey field by Tullow Oil plc.
Significance and reach: The Bentley field produced 47,000 barrels of oil (value ~$4.7M) over the period 2011 — 2012, with an estimated ~900M barrels in place. [text removed for publication].
Underpinned by: Research into the identification of geological features through seismic and sequence stratigraphy, undertaken at the University of Edinburgh (1993 - June 2013).
Spatial decomposition methods have been extended to apply to spatial, scale, and temporal domains as a result of work at the Numerical and Applied Mathematics Research Unit (NAMU) at the University of Greenwich. This work has led to a numerical framework for tackling many nonlinear problems which have been key bottlenecks in software design and scientific computing. The work has benefitted the welding industry in the UK because these concepts are now embedded, with parallel computing, in the industry's modern welding design process software.
It is well-known that certain bridges are susceptible to potentially dangerous uncontrolled vibrations; recent examples include London's Millennium Bridge and the Volga Bridge in Volgograd. Correcting such problems after the construction of the bridge can be extremely expensive and time-consuming. Research in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Liverpool has led to a novel approach for predicting such behaviour in advance and then modifying the bridge design so as to avoid it. During the period 2011-12 this research has been incorporated into standard design procedures by industrial companies involved in bridge design. There is an economic impact for the companies concerned (avoiding costly repairs after bridge construction) and a societal impact (improvements in public safety and also avoiding the inconvenience of long-term closure of crucial transport links).
The research is based on a novel, highly non-trivial approach that has been developed to study properties of elastic waves in complex engineered structures with a multi-scale pattern. The work has been taken up by the industrial construction company ICOSTRADE S.R.L. Italy, whose design engineer Dr Gian Felice Giaccu integrated the innovative research ideas into their standard design procedures for complex structures such as multiply supported bridges. Novel designs of wave by- pass systems developed by the Liverpool group have also been embedded in standard algorithms by the industrial software company ENGINSOFT, in the framework of a project led by their project manager Mr. Giovanni Borzi.
The research produced accurate simulation models of piezoelectric actuators for investigating sensitivities to parameter variations that led to maximum power for minimum electric field. This was the basis of design rules for determining new products at the industrial partner NXT, now named Hi-Wave Technology, headquartered in Cambourne, UK. Old design rules had led to two failed products whereas these new design rules have guided successful products with a major Japanese television manufacturer, a Japanese printer company and a Russian mobile phone company. Without this research Hi-Wave would have stopped activities in this technology. To date, licences for more than 24 million units per annum have been sold and more than 280,000 units manufactured.
3DU researchers have used innovative techniques for reconstructing past sea levels to compile a comprehensive database of evidence on recent and current UK sea-level change, and have developed an improved model of vertical land movement which is consistent with the historical data on sea-level change. The model and database underpin the sea-level component of the UK Climate Projections 09 (UKCP09) climate modelling tool, and thereby inform a wide range of coastal planning and management activities around the UK. DU researchers have also applied these methodological advances in detailed work on coastal stability at existing and proposed sites for nuclear power stations and nuclear waste repositories in England and Sweden.