Optimisation of Metal Powder Particle Size Distribution from Wall Colmonoy’s Gas Atomisation Process
Wall Colmonoy is a globally leading materials engineering group manufacturing Colmonoy® surfacing and Nicrobraz® brazing products, precision castings, coatings, and engineered components across aerospace, automotive, glass container, oil and gas, mining, energy and other industrial sectors. The collaboration with ASTUTE sought to achieve a better understanding of the physics of gas atomisation and the relationship between process conditions and metal powder Particle Size Distribution (PSD).
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An industry-academia collaboration on reliable clean energy of the future
Crossflow Energy are renewable energy technology specialists. They are focused on supplying wind-based energy solutions for both developing and developed countries. Through the ASTUTE2020+ academic partnership, both Swansea and Aberystwyth Universities collaborated with Crossflow on two independent projects; the former developed a range of novel vertical wind turbines, and the latter a portable hybrid energy system. ASTUTE provided experimental and computational expertise that, together with Crossflow’s industry knowledge and experience, were able to solve the complex engineering challenges faced by the company.
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Research Collaboration on Innovative materials for 3D Printing
The aim of the collaborative research with the ASTUTE 2020 team based at Cardiff University was to investigate whether formulations of polymer matrix composites, developed primarily for injection moulding by Radical Materials, possessed characteristics suitable for use in additive layer manufacturing (commonly known as 3D printing) using Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM). FDM is an extrusion technique by which molten material is printed in layers onto a build platform to form a 3D object following dimension data contained in a Computer Aided Design (CAD) file.
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Industry-Academia Computational and Experimental Investigations into a Mould Tool for Aluminium Food Containers
FSG sought the support of the ASTUTE 2020 team to improve the performance of the press tooling components used in the manufacture of standard and smooth wall aluminium food containers such as take-away food, frozen food, desserts and airline meals.
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Brother Industries (U.K.) Ltd. Launches Toner Cartridges Produced Using Recycled Plastics Thanks to Industry-Academia Collaboration
Brother Industries (U.K.) Ltd. ("BIUK") is adopting the principles of ‘Circular Economy’, placing the business at the forefront as an ethical and sustainable manufacturer of plastic components and becoming the Recycling Technology Centre (RTC) for the global Brother Group. ASTUTE 2020 supported BIUK in investigating the technical difficulties of using recycled High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) materials.
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Merthyr Tydfil Manufacturer Achieves Significant Cost Savings and Environmental Benefits Thanks to Industry-Academia Collaboration
ASTUTE 2020 and Amnitec’s collaboration aimed to understand the metallurgical construction of a copper to a stainless steel welded joint improving consistency, enhancing the quality of these welds to eliminate leakage and reduce scrap in products that employ this welding method, thereby enhancing productivity and company competitiveness in this niche market.
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Industry-Academia Collaboration Helps Towards Accreditation of Laser Wire Stripping Process for Aerospace Industries
ASTUTE 2020 has been working with Spectrum Technologies Ltd. to prove and demonstrate that the process of laser wire stripping has no detrimental effect on the electrical and physical properties of the wire or cables used in the aerospace industry.
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Industry-Academia Collaboration of IoT Device That Instantly Turns Beer Kegs into Smart Containers
The unique collaboration between the Smart Container Company and ASTUTE 2020 has utilised renowned manufacturing systems expertise to research methods of fluid level management and establish the feasibility of energy harvesting methods for powering the IoT device through the use of sensors.
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Testing and Evaluation of the Physical Properties of an Innovative Modular All-in-One Coat and Sleeping System (ROOF)
RDM approached the ASTUTE 2020 team located at UWTSD to engage with their extensive expertise in Advanced Materials and their conventional and non-destructive testing (NDT) capabilities. The request was to collaborate on the optimisation of ROOF and to establish that the garment is fit for purpose and performs in the most extreme conditions.
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Major Port Talbot Manufacturer of Industrial Instrumentation Researches World Leading Capability in Noise Level Prediction
ASTUTE 2020 has been working with British Rototherm to demonstrate the acoustic modelling capability of numerical modelling tools to predict noise levels from the pressure reducers, bringing together the company’s expertise in flow control and measurement with the ASTUTE 2020 team’s expertise in computational modelling.
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Queen’s Awards Enterprise Forecasts Growth and Improvement Thanks to Industry-Academia Research Collaboration
This project with ASTUTE 2020 has helped enhance the resilience of the Markes International’s manufacturing systems and supply chain through the application of novel methodologies such as Robust Agile Lean Flexible (RALF) and dynamic capabilities. Continued research as part of this project is expected to lead to better inventory control through the implementation of an improved forecasting system addressing a mixed order book of fast, slow and infrequently sold items.
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Ultrasonic Technology Research for High-Quality Cleaning Results
Ultrawave approached ASTUTE 2020 as the company wanted to enhance and develop their understanding of the adhesive mechanism of thermocouples; accelerate the testing regime of a new attachment and create confidence in the new solution, improving reliability and extending service intervals.
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Enhanced Powder production enables crack-free High Temperature Nickel Superalloy (H-X) parts by Additive Manufacturing
Sandvik Osprey Ltd. decided to collaborate with the ASTUTE 2020 programme to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms controlling hot cracking and to assess different approaches to the elimination of microcracks in AM fabricated H-X parts, including (1) optimization of the alloy composition and (2) use of nanoparticle additions. Enabling the production of crack-free parts in H-X through Additive Manufacturing will open up the potential for new industrial applications, which will hopefully in turn increase the demand for high quality nickel superalloy powders.
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Academia Research Supports NDT Testing Specialists in Continuing to Promote Cutting Edge Engineering and Manufacturing in Wales
The project was a collaboration between Swansea University, University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) and TWI. As a direct result of the collaboration, two new jobs have been created at the Port Talbot facility, allowing TWI to modify the current design of their ultrasonic water couplant delivery system in the IntACom device.
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Engineering Company Seeks Industry-Academia Collaboration to Develop Advanced Heat Densification Technology to Recycle Waste Expanded Foam Material
This project has assisted Styrene Systems to draw closer to their objective of preparing a package of detailed plans and expertise that can be sold or licensed to third-party manufacturers for the large scale production of these devices.
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Industry-Academia Collaboration Target Marine Industry with Next Generation Anchoring Solution
The collaborative research with the ASTUTE 2020 team based at Cardiff University optimised the new anchor to deliver maximum structural performance and suitability for full-scale manufacture. The project’s aim was to evaluate the performance and model key parameters, particularly how it embeds in the sea floor, to determine opportunities for further optimisation of the design and its manufacturability.
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Affresol Ltd. - Manufacturing of TPR®: Applying Advanced Technology to Improve the Product, Technology, Control and Monitoring
Having successfully collaborated with ASTUTE during the 2010 – 2015 funding phase, Affresol continues to strive for improvements within the company and are utilising ASTUTE 2020’s expertise to develop and enhance the efficiency of the manufacturing process by improving already existing or creating new methods that are more suitable for TPR® material.
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Optimisation of Robotic Welding Process Sees Introduction of New Products and Jobs Created for Lyte Ladders
Lyte and ASTUTE 2020 identified three research challenges as part of a multi-phase research project where ASTUTE 2020's expertise in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Advanced Materials Technology, and Computational Engineering Modelling were exploited to optimise the pre-weld processes, robotic welding settings and quality control protocol.
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Team Precision Pipe Assemblies Ltd. - Comparing Simulation and Value Stream Mapping for Cell Layout
TEAM Precision Pipe Assemblies Ltd., based in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, manufacture a range of complex precision pipework assemblies for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and other fluid handling components for the automotive industry. Team Precision were seeking collaborative support from ASTUTE 2020 in gaining a better understanding of their current manufacturing capabilities and capacity, and ways to identify possible improvements.
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Welsh Manufacturer’s Continuous Strive to Advance Technologies Proves Rewarding as Industry-Academia Collaboration Results in Significant Job Growth
The collaborative project with ASTUTE 2020 aims to support Weartech’s ambition to potentially increase Weartech’s market share (up to 30% increase on orders), taking the company to a potential £15m turnover in the future. It is expected that through engagement and collaboration with ASTUTE 2020, Weartech’s advanced manufacturing knowledge will increase, and, alongside certain improvements, be applied more widely to the production, providing additional gains for Weartech.
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Weartech International Ltd. - Evolving the Research Capacity into Wear Resistant Multicomponent Alloys – Microstructure Approach
It is expected that through engagement and collaboration with ASTUTE 2020, Weartech’s advanced manufacturing knowledge will increase, alongside certain improvements, be applied more widely to production, providing additional gains for Weartech.
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Creation of Jobs and Expansion of Product Range for Kautex through Industry-Academia Collaboration
Continuing from a series of successful collaborative projects during the 2010 – 2015 funding phase of ASTUTE, Kautex was able to utilise the knowledge gained from the previous projects to develop two of their own nozzle designs. To further increase Kautex’s understanding of the key parameters of the nozzles, a collaborative project on the liquid flow patterns was carried out with ASTUTE 2020.
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Optimising Product Sustainability Results in Increased Sales and Expansion for Frontier Medical
Following on from a successful collaboration between Frontier Medical Group Ltd. and ASTUTE (2010 – 2015) on Repose® and Frontier’s ongoing focus to remain competitive, utilise new materials and optimise processes, a collaborative Research and Development (R&D) project with ASTUTE 2020 was scoped.
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Lighting Column Manufacturer’s Fruitful Industry-Academia Collaboration Leads to Spin Out Company
ASTUTE 2020 supported ALC with a feasibility study during the initial stages of developing a concept for a column health monitoring system.
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Swansea-Based Collaboration Leads to Wave Energy Innovation
Marine Power Systems (MPS), based in Swansea, is developing a Wave Energy Converter to address the challenges of extracting wave energy at viable cost. Computational research of the float structure is necessary to allow MPS to assess the suitability of the components and significantly de-risk the build and test stages.
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Next Generation of Implantable Heart Pumps Ready for Clinical Trials with Support from Industry-Academia Collaboration
Calon Cardio-Technology Ltd. was founded in 2007 and is located at the Institute of Life Science at Swansea University. Calon Cardio is developing the next generation of implantable blood pumps for the treatment of advanced chronic heart failure, the MiniVAD™, Miniature Ventricular Assist Device.
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A Study into How to Assess Low Cycle Fatigue Behaviour of an Aluminium Conical Lighting Column
Fatigue failure of lighting columns, as a result of wind and traffic induced vibration, has received particular attention in recent years with the increased number of premature lighting failures on exposed sites.
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Feasibility Study into Remote Plant Monitoring via Smartphone
Cambrian Printers are a commercial printing company in Aberystwyth, specialising in short run colour printing for magazines, books, catalogues, brochures and journals. They run 24 hours a day, producing journals, magazines and brochures for customers across the UK.
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Finite Element Investigation into New Magnetic Flux Leakage Inspection Tools
Silverwing is the leading specialist Non-Destructive Testing inspection equipment provider for storage tanks, vessels and pipe work within the oil, gas and petro-chemical industries.
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Development of a Point of Care (POC) Test for Detection of Urogenital Cancers
Morvus Technology Ltd. is a pharmaceutical company formed in April 2004 to exploit its founders’ proven expertise in the areas of drug and target-discovery and the commercialisation of novel technology.
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Company Operations and Manufacturing Feasibility Study
Amcanu Ltd. was established in 2008, its main product base was producing machined parts and sheet metal products for indigenous local industry within West Wales and the M4 corridor. The company has aspirations to expand its product base, develop into new market sectors and establish itself as a leader in bespoke metal solutions within the wider European market.
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Development of a Novel Device Concept for the Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment
WorksafePAT Ltd. is a company which performs in-service inspection and testing of electrical equipment (PAT). Currently, there are no viable methods of isolating failed devices without removing the plug.
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Feasibility Study: Design and Manufacture of Concept Forceps
Since 2005, DTR Medical has successfully manufactured sterile single-use products for the Medical Industry. One of the R&D activities focuses on product improvement to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage to bring production back into Wales.
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Industry and University Collaborative Research in the Medical Diagnostics Sector
OCD was one of the first companies ASTUTE-Cardiff collaborated with, initially through our facilitating an innovation workshop to identify and then develop a roadmap to meet the research requirements and industrial needs of OCD, and to match those with the skills of ASTUTE.
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Feasibility Study into the Aerodynamic Improvement of Caravans
The Fifth Wheel Company design and manufacture luxury caravans for leisure purposes and mobile units for commercial and police enforcement requirements. The company is the original and only UK based manufacturer of European-compliant fifth wheel type tourers.
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Recovering Signal of the Foetal Heart Rate from the Audio Data
SymlConnect is a health informatics company specialising in creating cost effective ICT solutions for better communication within the existing systems & professionals, anywhere anytime, using smart mobile devices for better-integrated care delivery.
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High Resolution Computational Flow Modelling of Blood Oxygenators
Haemair’s corporate mission is “to reduce acute deaths, improve the lives of chronic sufferers and to provide an alternative to lung transplantation”.
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Investigation of the Warpage Characteristics of Nylon Casing Cap Manufactured by Injection Moulding
ASTUTE was involved in this project to assist the company to find relationships between the moulding process parameters and a component’s final geometry.
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Prediction of the Fatigue Failure of Lead-Free Solders in New Power Electronic Components
Electronic Motion Systems (EMS) develop and manufacture control modules and systems for power conversion and electric motor drives for the automotive industry.
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