New paper from old PhD project

Teresa Nvodlu has published a paper from her thesis after a long time. See Production and evaluation of two antibiotics of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), prodigiosin and actinorhodin under solid state fermentation, using micro-porous culture, Teresa M. M. Victor (T. M. Ndlovu), Miguel Filho, Benevides C. Pessela, Steve Bull, and A.C. Ward, Chemical Engineering and Processing – Process Intensification, 170 (2022) 108685. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2021.108685.

Improving understanding of composite fatigue in a sea water environment

To better understand the fatigue failure of composite tidal turbine blades in sea water we have used micromechanical testing (nanoindentation) to determine the effect of the environment on different parts of a composite material.

Investigation of the effects of environmental fatigue on the mechanical properties of GFRP composite constituents using nanoindentation, H Gonabadi, A Oila, A. Yadav and S Bull, J. Experimental Mechanics, (2021) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-021-00808-4.

Detailed analysis of the mechanical response of glass fibre reinforced composites

Following on from previous work on developing composite materials for tidal turbine blades we have undertaken a detailed study of anisotropic response using full-field strain measurement in conjunction with finite element analysis.

Investigation of anisotropy effects in glass fibre reinforced polymer composites on tensile and shear properties using full field strain measurement and finite element multi-scale techniques, Hassan Gonabadi, Adrian Oila, Arti Yadav, and Steve Bull, J. Composite Materials, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1177/00219983211054232

Improving the design of 3D printed polymer parts

We have previously shown that the properties of FFF printed parts can be controlled by the printing design and layer orientation. This paper expands on this work and shows how finite element homgenisation techniques can give a better description of printed material properties for design.

See “Investigation of the effect of raster angle, build orientation and infill density on the elastic response of 3D printed parts using Finite Element microstructural modelling and homogenization techniques”, Hassan Gonabadi, Yao Chen, Arti Yadav, and Steve Bull, Int. J. Adv. Manufact. Technol., (2021) https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-07940-4.

Another new publication

Hydrogen production is attracting increasing attention in the nett carbon zero world. This paper highlights some of our recent work on the gasification of waste wood showing that significant hydrogen production is possible using carbon dioxide as the gasifying medium.

Sustainable hydrogen production from waste wood and CO2, Phuet Prasertcharoensuk, Steve Bull, Amornchai Arpornwichanop and Anh N. Phan, Ind, Eng. Chem Res., 60 (2021) 12362-12376.

More on Tidal turbines

We have been working to develop the design requirements for tidal turbines where the tidal flow velocity is low. This needs blades which are easy and cheap to manufacture and opens up a larger range of coastal sites where tidal energy can be harvested. See our new paper for more details:

Structural Performance of Composite Tidal Turbine Blades, Hassan Gonabadi, Adrian Oila, Arti Yadav, and Steve Bull, Composite Structures, 278 (2021)114679.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.114679

Collaborative research published

Work with collaborators in Durham University is now published:

Tunable High Refractive Index Polymer Hybrid and Polymer–Inorganic Nanocomposite Coatings, Ritchie, Angus; Cox, Harrison; Gonabadi, Hassan; Bull, Steve; Badyal, Jas Pal, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 13 (2021) 33477-33484.

Working with Microbreweries

Our assessment of cleaning procedures in use in local microbreweries has now been published.

Investigating CIP chemical, water, and energy use: a comparative study of SOP for UK North East microbreweries, Harry Laing, Steve Bull, Sharon Joyce and Chris O’Malley, J. Brewing and Distilling, 10 (2021) 17-28.