National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC)

“It’s easy to take the integrity of the structures around us for granted,” says Anurag. “An unexpected bridge collapse, failure of a sub-surface weld on an oil tanker, or an unforeseen interaction between two aircraft components are thankfully highly unusual occurrences. But if and when they do happen, the results can be catastrophic.”

A long-established partnership between Lloyd’s Register Foundation and The Welding Institute (TWI) is aiming to make such events rarer still, by supporting the work of PhD students studying at the National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC), a state-of-the-art postgraduate engineering facility in Cambridge, UK.

“By changing the DNA of a material, we can see how it reacts with other materials and technologies, and how that could influence performance, life cycle and safety, as well as repair regimes under different environmental conditions,” explains Anurag. “For example, we can model what will happen if we reduce the thickness of a steel panel in a ship hull. How can we do that safely? We know the existing panel will have a life of, say, 20 years. But if we reduce the thickness by x%, what happens to that operational life, and why?”

“At the same time, our studies are helping develop new materials and processes, such as new coatings with different combinations of polymers and plastics.”

The Foundation’s backing for TWI and NSIRC has so far funded 83 students in obtaining doctorates in the UK. Now the partnership is expanding internationally, with NSIRC Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand all being founded in 2022 to enable students from around the world to access the best facilities and education in their own regions. In addition, NSIRC has signed Memorandums of Understanding towards NSIRC India with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and for NSIRC Greece with the Hellenic Mediterranean University in Crete. In many cases, these regions are in serious need of more qualified engineers and higher infrastructural standards, so will benefit massively from NSIRC’s presence.

“We simply couldn’t have done this without the Foundation,” says James Brookman, TWI & NSIRC Marketing Lead. “They provide us with financial support but also so much more, including hands-on expertise and valuable industry connections. Together, we’re improving the understanding of structural integrity and how infrastructure performs – helping to make the world’s built environments safer.”