Past Research Projects
ADSC-NIR
Partners: Astra Zeneca, Bruker Optics Ltd
Funded By: DTi
Duration: 3 years
Project Poster: adsc-nir.pdf (160KB)
Description: The project aimed to develop an innovative, efficient, non-destructive screening technique/instrument based on simultaneous thermal analysis (DSC-differential screening calorimetry) and spectral techniques (near/mid IR and Raman). It also aimed to accelerate the discovery of polymorphism in drugs to allow faster market delivery and allow pharmaceutical companies to protect and extend patents and therefore maintain and improve their position in the market.
Early screening of pharmaceuticals to identify all possible polymorphs in a drug has a number of significant benefits. Establishing the polymorphic behaviour early in development can identify optimum states. It can also reduce risks of the appearance of unsuitable forms later which may have major financial and time impacts.
2009 – M. A. Beard, O.R. Ghita, J. McCabe, K. E. Evans – “Monitoring Dehydration Kinetics of Theophylline Monohydrate Using Simultaneous Thermal and Spectral Methods” – Journal of Raman Spectroscopy.
2008 – O.R. Ghita, M. A. Beard, J. McCabe, R. Bottom, J. Richmond, K.E. Evans - “A Study into First and Second Order Thermal Transitions of Materials using Spectral DSC”, Journal of Material Science, vol. 43, pp. 4988-4995
Recomp
Partners: Sims, Menzolit, Mitras, Gurit, BPF, SMMT, Brunel University
Funded By: DTi
Duration: 3 years
Project Poster: recomp.pdf (1.6MB)
Description: The European Union End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) Directive requires that 85% of a vehicle (by weight) must be capable of recovery or reuse from Jan 2006 and 95% by 2015. These targets cannot be reached by recycling metals alone. The goal of this project is to develop new, high quality, Sheet and Bulk Moulding compounds (SMC/BMC) materials that are derived from recycled SMC/BMC through a granulation process, where the comminuted materials are then used as fillers in other products. It seeks to understand and develop improved SMC/BMC formulations involving recyclate as an active reinforcing agent, rather than just the passive filler as considered in previous studies.
2010 – J. Palmer, L. Savage, O.R. Ghita, K.E. Evans, “Sheet Moulding Compound (SMC) from Carbon Fibre Recyclate” – under review – Composites: Part A
2009 – J. Palmer, L. Savage, O.R. Ghita, K.E. Evans, “SMC production with fibre length recyclate” – Journal of Composite Science and Technology.
2009 – J. Palmer, O.R. Ghita, L. Savage, K. E. Evans, “New Sheet Moulding Compounds (SMC) based on glass and carbon fibre recyclate” - Proceedings – International Conference of Composite Materials (ICCM 17) – June, Edinburgh, UK
2008 – J. Palmer, O.R. Ghita, L. Savage, K.E. Evans, “Recyclate fibres –matrix interface analysis for reuse in sheet moulding compounds (SMC)” – Proceedings - European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM13) –3-5th June, Stockholm, Sweden
2008 – J. Palmer, O.R. Ghita – “Mechanical Recycling of Automotive Thermoset Composites“ – oral presentation - Society of Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) Europe Conference, April, Paris, France
AeroNEWS
Partners: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, N.V. ASCO Industries (Belgium), Diagnostic Centre DAKEL, Institute of Thermomechanics, Aeronautical Research and Test Institute VZLU (Czech Republic), GIP Ultrasons, NDT Expert (France), Fraunhofer Institut fuer zerstoerungsfreie Pruefverfahren (Germany), Politecnico di Torino, Università di Napoli (Italy), Consejo Superior De Investigaciones Científicas, Boeing Research & Technology Europe (Spain), CSM Materialteknik (Sweden), University of Bristol, University of Nottingham, Cranfield University (UK)
Funded By: EU FP6
Duration: 4 years
Project Poster: aeronews.pdf (1.1MB)
Description: Nonlinear Elastic Wave Spectroscopy (NEWS) is a new method of ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT) that is superior to traditional NDT methods. It is highly sensitive and can detect and image structural damage such as delamination, microcracking and adhesive debonding. The focus of this project is to develop innovative NEWS systems and techniques, and apply them to aircraft health monitoring. The long term goal is to provide in-flight monitoring of the integrity of airframes, engines and helicopter rotor systems.
Materials Network Atlantic Area (MNAA)
Funded By: EU/ERDF
Duration: 3 years
Project Poster: mnaa.pdf (161KB)
Description: MNAA was a collaborative project supported by the European Union INTERREG IIIB Programme and co-financed by the ERDF bringing together research institutions along the Atlantic seaboard of the EU, together with networked partner organisations.
It aimed to improve the long-term competitiveness of the Atlantic Area by strengthening skills, research, innovation and technology transfer. Partners worked together to create joint Research and Technology Development schemes and Training programmes which will not only upgrade the existing labour force but also prepare people to take advantage of the new materials technologies that are on the horizon.
In addition to providing materials characterisation and troubleshooting services to SMEs and others, MNAA specialised in the following areas; ceramics and glasses, biomaterials and health, environment/sustainable development, polymers and composites.
Production Online
Project Partners: Battenfeld UK Ltd, Bruker Ltd, Kontor Moulding, Mantracourt Electronics, NPL (Dissemination)
Funded By: DTi
Duration: 3 years
Description: The project has a dual aim – to provide an INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS LINK from UK manufacturers’ machines to assist in increasing their manufacturing processes and to help in providing an ON-LINE MONITORING SYSTEM for the UK plastic injection moulding sector. Data will be taken from a specially instrumented injection-moulding machine and used to optimise its performance. Internet communication will be used to provide an interactive link between plastic manufacturers, material suppliers, technical / processing help and service support. This will improve productivity, quality and reproducibility, thereby increasing competitiveness.
The instrumentation will be developed and marketed as both retrofit and OEM packages world-wide. It will give the UK entry as a specialised supplier into a market where there are no current UK manufacturers. This market will be a continuous support market as new software packages are developed.
2008 - O. R. Ghita, D.C. Baker, K.E. Evans “An in-line near infrared process control tool for monitoring the effects of speed, temperature and polymer colour in injection moulding”, Polymer Testing, vol. 27, pp. 459-469
2008 – O.R. Ghita, D.C. Baker, K.E. Evans – “In-line monitoring of injection moulding materials and parameters using near infrared spectroscopy and chemometric analysis“ - Proceedings - Polymer Processing Society (PPS) – 24th Annual Meeting, June 15-19th, Palermo, Italy
2006 – O.R. Ghita “In-line monitoring of plastics during injection moulding using near infrared spectroscopy”, NIR news – The newsletter of the International Council for Near Infrared Spectroscopy, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 8
2005 – O.R. Dumitrescu, D.C. Baker, G.M. Foster, K.E. Evans “Near infrared spectroscopy for in-line monitoring during injection moulding”, Polymer Testing, 24, pp 367-375
Ecopad
Project Partners: EFI, Goonvean, Aptec, PBW Metals, Eden project, Hemcore
Funded By: DTi
Duration: 3 years
Project Poster: ecopad.pdf (209KB)
Decsription: ECOPAD was a project aimed at developing new brake pad materials for the automotive industry. The project aimed to introduce eco-friendly crops into automotive brake pad formulations and reduce the amount of toxic material entering the environment from the 80 million sets of brake pads used in the UK every year.
Aimtech
Funded By: EU
Duration: 5 years
Project Poster: aimtech.pdf (270KB)
Description: This project aimed to extend the range of techniques and products available to the plastic injection moulding industry, through the development of a copper alloy mould tooling system. This innovative use of copper will deliver a number of end-user benefits, both technical and commercial.
Initially the project examined the use of copper alloys in the manufacture of injection moulding tools. A range of surface treatments to minimise wear was then evaluated - an essential feature in the aggressive moulding environment. Copper has excellent thermal conductivity properties, so the project aimed to show a reduction in moulding cycle times and a corresponding reduction in scrap rates, without any sacrifice in product quality.
DENTAL CEMENTS BASED ON CYANOACRYLATES
The aim of this research project was to characterise new adhesive cements based on cyanoacrylates, invented by Alan Bennetts, Chris Wilde, and Alan Wilson (A. Bennetts, C. Wilde, and A. Wilson, Adhesive cement, 2003).
They can be classified into two main types: (1) hybrids (glass-ionomer cements (GICs) with added cyanoacrylate), and (2) composites (filled cyanoacrylates).
These cements have a range of applications but were particularly designed to be dental restorative cements with properties superior to the currently available dental materials.
For more details contact Dr Oana Ghita - O.Gh...@ex.ac.uk
2007 – S. K. Tomlinson, O. R. Ghita, R. M. Hooper, K. E. Evans, “Investigation of the setting mechanism of a novel dental cement using infrared spectroscopy”, Vibrational Spectroscopy, vol. 45, pp. 10-17
2006 – S. K. Tomlinson, O.R. Ghita, R.M. Hooper, K.E. Evans “Monomer conversion and hardness of novel dental cement based on ethyl cyanoacrylate”, Dental Materials, vol.23, pp. 799-806
2006 – S.K. Tomlinson, O.R. Ghita, B. Hooper, K. E. Evans, “Biocements based on Cyanoacrylate Composites and Ionomer Hybrids” Poster, 20th European Conference on Biomaterials, September, Nantes, France
2005 – S. K. Tomlinson, O.R. Ghita, R.M. Hooper, K.E. Evans “The use of near-infrared spectroscopy for the cure monitoring of an ethyl cyanoacrylate adhesive” Vibrational Spectroscopy, 40 pp 133–141
An Improved Safety, Climbing, Parachute Harness Incorporating Auxetic Yarns to Enhance Narrow Fabric Technology
Funded By: Smart.mat (Materials KTN)
Duration: 3 months
Description: Sling webbings are in everyday use in the construction industry and in areas where a lifting mechanism is required. Currently, there is no indication when a webbing has been overextended and is therefore no longer fit for purpose.
This project evaluated helical auxetic yarns as failure or end-of-life indicators in sling webbings. It was conceived that the ability to cause an auxetic yarn to ‘pop out’ of a fabric when under tension would provide an ideal indicator that the fabric had been deployed beyond its safe working limit (a similar mechanism could also be used to indicate when an ‘optimum’load had been applied in alternative uses of fabric).
The trials were conducted by the University of Exeter in collaboration with Wisla Narrow Fabrics Ltd. Working prototypes were produced for both permanent and temporary overload conditions, and a patent is pending on the technology.
For more details please contact: J.R....@exeter.ac.uk