Group in the Spotlight: Solid Mechanics Research Group

In what has been an extremely busy year for the Solid Mechanics Research Group at the University of Bristol, members of the group have taken time to reflect on the huge number of opportunities and experiences they have shared within their field and around the world.

The Solid Mechanics Research Group (SMRG) are part of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Bristol and are linked with the South West Nuclear Hub. Members of the group are currently working towards their PhD’s in a variety of research areas, spanning imaging of stress corrosion, optimization of models, fracture and fatigue and much, much more.

I12 Experimental Team From left to right: Kuo Yuan, Simon McKendrey, Ranggi Ramadhan, Chris Allen, Mehdi Mokhtarishirazabad and Amelia Billings

Excitingly, some members of the group have taken their work stateside; in June and July this year students attended the International Conference on Fracture (ICF-15), the ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI) Conference and the Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference (PVP), all of which took place in Atlanta, Georgia:

What are these events?

  • The 15th International Conference on Fracture (ICF-15), this year hosted in Atlanta, Georgia, promotes worldwide cooperation among scientists and engineers dealing with mechanics and mechanisms of fracture and strength of solids. Attendance was marked by a dynamic and diverse range of engineers and material scientists from various disciplines in both academia and industry from around the world. The conference was organized by the International Congress on Fracture in conjunction with the University of Arkansas and the Georgia Institute of Technology.
  • The ASCE EMI conference provides a forum to discuss the fundamental advances in engineering mechanics. It aims to bring together scholars from around the world to exchange and disseminate the most recent developments in engineering mechanics and probabilistic methods across wide-ranging fields related to the discipline of Civil Engineering understood in the broadest sense, including industry applications of engineering mechanics.
  • The Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference (PVP) is an annual engineering conference dedicated to research and the development of standards around pressure vessels. It is attended by researchers and engineers from around the world with specializations across a wide range of disciplines. This gives the opportunity for the research presented to be exposed to many different industrial areas, whilst also allowing for feedback from people with a very different perspective. PVP2023 was hosted in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

International conferences such as these are invaluable experiences. Michael Salvini, PhD student in the SMRG attended the ICF-15:

“ICF was a fantastic experience as a second year PhD student. Being able to interact with interesting and experienced colleagues from a wide variety of fields was incredibly rewarding, leading to many fascinating discussions both about my own research and beyond. There were plenty of opportunities for networking, problem solving, or just making good conversation. It was a great chance to expand my contacts network and yielded some great ideas for future avenues for my research project.”

One aspect that a few members spoke on was the value in networking and receiving feedback from people high up in the field citing making new contacts, improving personal projects, problem solving and planning for the future all as takeaways from these international events.

“There were lots of interesting people from all over the world with unique viewpoints, willing to give constructive feedback. Lots of networking opportunities were provided which helped me expand my contacts in the industry.”

- Edward Horton, PhD student, speaking on PVP 2023

The UK also offered the team plenty of opportunity to present and network with people from exciting areas such as fusion and the development of structural integrity across nuclear energy and other areas.

Events attended in the UK were the Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE), Universities’ Nuclear Technology Forum (UNTF) and the 17th International Conference on Engineering Structural Integrity Assessment and 2023 International Symposium on Structural Integrity (ESIA17–ISSI2023) – what a name!

  • SOFE is a biennial conference organized by the IEEE which aims to bring together the global fusion community with the intention of bridging the gap between academic research and industry. The conference topics are chosen with an engineering perspective in mind, such as materials, fuel cycle, plasma physics, diagnostics and plant efficiency and operation. This year’s conference was hosted by the UK Atomic Energy Authority in Oxford.
  • The UNTF is a national conference for PhD students and early career researchers to present their work, explore career opportunities and network with their peers. It was hosted by the South West Nuclear Hub at the University of Bristol and supported the Nuclear Institute and TRANSCEND.
  • ESIA17–ISSI2023 is an annual conference aiming to exhibit and discuss the latest developments in structural integrity across a range of disciplines in current and future infrastructure. Fields included nuclear energy, hydrogen and energy storage, mechanical and civil engineering, big data applications and more. This year's conference was hosted at The Lowry Theatre in Manchester, organised by the Forum of Engineering Structural Integrity (FESI) and the Chinese Structural Integrity Forum (CSIF).

 

Speaking on her experiences at SOFE, Amelia Billings highlighted some of her favourite aspects of the event:

Amelia Billings presenting her poster at SOFE 2023

“I learnt a lot from the interesting presentations and poster sessions given at SOFE 2023, particularly the work concerning fusion commercialization. It was engaging to hear from top governmental and industrial figures from across the globe about their plans towards DEMO fusion power plants.  I particularly enjoyed hearing from the panel of brilliant women about their experiences developing a career in fusion at the Women in Fusion event. It is encouraging to see a collaborative effort between industry, government and the research community, which will be integral for the success of commercial fusion by 2050.”

ESIA17–ISSI2023 had a great international presence and this was noted as a highlight. Topics in nuclear were covered, and a talk on the multi-length scale modelling challenges involved in developing, modelling, and monitoring the vast high speed rail network in China for safe operation was especially interesting!

UNTF, hosted by the South West Nuclear Hub was also an enjoyable PhD focused event, allowing students to present to likeminded individuals, discover the UK nuclear research landscape and explore career paths.

UNTF 2023 attendees
UNTF 2023 attendees

Finally, some members of the group were able to conduct an experiment at I12 to investigate high temperature deformation of stainless steel. I12 is a beamline located at Diamond Light Source, Oxford. I12 has many uses but in this case, X-rays were used to penetrate steel samples at high temperatures to measure elastic deformation. Beamline experiments run over several days and happen at every hour of the day meaning people often must undertake night shifts. Due to the limited timeframe and constant workload, beamline experiments require excellent collaboration and problem-solving skills.

Chris Allen, Ranggi Ramadhan (Principal Investigator), Amelia Billings, Mehdi Mokhtarishirazabad, Simon McKendrey and Kuo Yuan all participated. Chris Allen pointed out how beneficial the collaborative nature of the experiment was:

“Conducting an experiment at I12 was a fantastic experience. Our excellent teamwork and problem solving helped us yield results under varying conditions that will prove extremely useful. Studying for a PhD can be a very independent process, so it was great to focus on a unified goal with my fellow research group members whilst getting to use state-of-the-art equipment.”

Overall, it sounds like the Solid Mechanics Research Group have had an amazing year, having had the chance to travel and learn in so many new places with people leading in their fields. We are looking forward to what they all get up to next year!

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