NPL's three-year materials R&D programme

Research on materials performance is to be the focus of a new programme under development by the UK's Department of Trade & Industry and the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington. The DTI will invest £8m of funding over three years, starting in April 2004, and industry collaborations are expected to bring the total value of the programme to £12m

Apr 29, 2003, 5:15 PM

Sam Gresham of NPL's Knowledge Transfer Centre commented: "The proposed materials performance programme will be broad in scope and will address measurement needs for many different material types and industrial sectors. Its objective is to develop measurement methodologies and models for the assessment, prediction and ongoing evaluation of the properties of materials in a service environment critical to maintaining fitness for purpose."

A formulation workshop will be held in July 2003 and expected programmes include: high-temperature degradation; aqueous corrosion; surface engineered solutions; engineering integrity assessment; performance of polymeric materials; accelerated ageing methodologies; wear and abrasion; durability of electronic materials; construction materials; and assessment monitoring.

This is one of three new DTI-funded 'National Measurement System Materials Metrology' programmes, the others being manufacture/processing and characterisation/design.