Cold spray is a material deposition technology that is very promising for the repair of aerospace parts. However its application is currently limited because we dont have a methodology to predict a repaired part’s fatigue and impact performance. This research will address this by establishing the critical science and engineering knowledge on fatigue crack initiation and propagation in cold spray repaired parts, as well as investigating their response to impact loading. This will lead to the development of a methodology for assessing fatigue and damage tolerance of cold spray repaired parts, ultimately supporting its use as a structural repair technology.

The surface a painter works on is prepared with a ground - an evenly applied layer that smooths the canvas or panel and provides a pleasant surface to work on. During the Middle Ages, Dutch artists worked on white grounds. But over the course of the sixteenth century, they started using coloured grounds. This transition gave rise to a new way of painting, with light-dark contrasts and more natural effects. Down to the Ground investigates the spread of coloured grounds and its impact on painters working methods. This gives insight into the success and unique qualities of Dutch seventeenth-century painting.

This project AVIATOR aims to provide a step change in resolution and speed of visual inspection in large-scale safety critical composite structures such as airplanes by creating novel autonomous UAVs with combined vision and tactile capacities and use of advanced artificial algorithms. Currently, visual inspection is conducted by skilled operators, allowing room for human errors, and health and safety (H&S) concerns. AVIATOR will remove humans from the loop, and increase the productivity, reliability, and resolution of inspection, reducing the costs and downtime associated with inspection, and reducing the H&S risks of difficult to access locations.

This consortium aims to tackle a pressing issue in the Dutch society about how waste is used poorly, which leads to losing valuable materials, missing out on economic gains, and causing greenhouse gas emissions. To address this challenge and build a sustainable and thriving Dutch bioeconomy, we will develop innovative technology to turn low-quality waste into useful and sustainable materials that fit into a circular system. Our goal is to make the environment in the Netherlands cleaner and self-sustainable by cutting down on carbon emissions from fossil fuels, reducing critical materials in industry, reducing waste incineration, and re-using waste.

This research will enable application of the damage tolerant philosophy to structures incorporating composite materials or bonded joints. This will be done by combining the effects of the various factors that influence damage growth in one framework and by predicting delamination growth due to both quasi-static and fatigue loading.