Notice

Advanced Manufacturing Materials competition: phases 2A and 2B successful projects

Published 10 July 2020

Phase 2A

1. Rolls-Royce Project FAST (AMM 2A)

Project FAST (Future Advanced Structural Technology) is aimed at developing a novel method of manufacturing nuclear pressure vessels. Key technologies being developed for this specific application are: Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) of Low Alloy Steel (LAS) vessel sections; Thick Section Electron Beam Welding (TSEBW) of vessel sections; Heat Treatment (HT) process modelling and physical process development. A physical demonstrator, named the Small Vessel Demonstrator (SVD) shall be manufactured and become the World’s First HIP & TSEBW pressure vessel.

2. Sheffield Forgemasters (AMM Phase 2A)

The Sheffield Forgemasters lead project aims to design, build and deliver an flexible electron beam welding (EBW) cell capable of welding 200mm thick nuclear grade steels in a single pass under local vacuum conditions. If successful EBW will dramatically increase the productively of nuclear pressure vessel fabrication, and could be a key enabling technology for small modular reactor (SMR) manufacturing.

3. Cammell Laird (Phase 2A)

Cammell Laird is a commercial shipyard situated in the North West on the banks of the river Mersey, which has capabilities across commercial and military contracts and has diversified into the Civil Nuclear sector. Cammell Laird is the leading partner for one of the BEIS funded Advanced Manufacturing Materials Phase 2 Projects, Project FAITH. In collaboration with GE Hitachi and National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), Project FAITH (Fuel Assemblies Incorporating Thermal Hydraulics) is a cross sector project harnessing Cammell Lairds modular shipbuilding approach with NNL’s nuclear expertise to create a modular thermal hydraulics rig. The rig is to be suitable to conduct ground breaking experimental research with direct links back to industry. This project will show innovation as it will challenge the norms within the nuclear sector to create a rig which can prove the benefit of cross-industry modular approaches in time, budget and health and safety.

4. EDF Energy (Phase 2A)

Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs) represent a significant innovation in nuclear technology. However demonstrating that they are safe in a UK regulatory framework poses a significant challenge to vendors as there is no industry/regulatory accepted high temperature structural integrity design code that is considered fit for purpose. The EASICS project is developing a number of technical innovations and takes operational experience from the existing fleet of high temperature Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs), to provide guidance to AMR vendors on the strengths and weaknesses of existing codes and standards to demonstrate the structural integrity of AMR high temperature reactor designs.

Phase 2B

5. Nuclear Energy Components (Phase 2B)

Replacing soluble oil coolant with super critical CO2 is seen as a game-changing development in machining processes due to significant improvements in material removal rates, cost savings and reduction in environmental impact. This project will quantify those savings in the nuclear supply chain while developing a rotary coolant adaptor which will allow widespread deployment of the technology on legacy machine tools.

6. U Battery (Phase 2B)

U-Battery is a cost-effective, locally embedded and reliable source of low-carbon power and heat for energy intensive industry and remote locations, capable also of being deployed specifically for hydrogen production. The advanced nuclear reactor is based on well-developed technology and benefits from modular and off-site construction to reduce both cost and risk. U-Battery will demonstrate this through the AMM by designing and building the two main vessels of the reactor and the connecting duct - the first full-scale demonstration of modular construction for an advanced nuclear reactor.

7. Rolls-Royce Project SAS (AMM 2B)

Project SAS (Sensing Advanced Structures) shall develop novel methods of internally and externally joining sensing fibres to remove need for traditional penetrations and pressure, temperature and strain transducers on nuclear power plants & components. The key technologies being developed specific for this application are: fibre bragg gratings; externally mounting fibre solutions; internal fibre embedment solutions; signal interrogation. Physical demonstrators shall be manufactured to show internal & external sensing technologies.

8. Cavendish project (Phase 2B)

Automated Welding Equipment System Inspection and Monitoring (AWESIM) Programme: the aim of AWESIM is to embed inspection, closed-loop control and automation directly at the point of welding to deliver high-quality welds right, first time. AWESIM brings together innovative technology including machine learning, sensor development and advanced remote manufacturing processes to deliver welding, weld inspection and, potentially, weld certification in near real time. The technology being deployed will enable early detection of flaws as they occur, so reducing rework, repair and removing redundant mid-stage inspections of flaw free welds. This will lead to commercially significant cost and time reductions in the manufacturing of nuclear components.

9. Create technologies (Phase 2B)

Weld inspection is an essential component of many high value manufacturing and maintenance activities e.g. ships, aircraft, nuclear reactors etc. Weld radiography is a mainstay of weld inspection, but has two consider- able drawbacks when deployed in-situ: it is potentially hazardous, making its use obstructive and dangerous, and it does not reliably detect certain types of defect. Createc has developed a concept that will combine 3D position sensing techniques, with autonomous robotics to make an in-situ radiography system which is safer, less obstructive and has higher performance by achieving in-situ Computed Tomography (CT) for generic welds or other industrial inspection.

10. Laser Additive Solutions (Phase 2B)

“SonicSMR” – Ultransonic Material processing Enabled Intelligent Additive Manufacturing with in-line Inspection for Small Modular Reactor Manufacturing.

Project SonicSMR will develop a large working envelope laser-based Additive Manufacturing system suitable for the high repeatability and reproducibility manufacturing of Small Modular Reactor parts. Using leading edge supplementary technologies such as Power Ultrasonics, Optical Process Monitoring, and AI based Automated Defect Recognition, the SonicSMR system will enable the additive manufacture of defect-free complex SMR component parts. A fully operational AM machine will be assembled in Doncaster and will be used to build example SMR demonstrator parts.

11. Jacobs (Phase 2B)

Evaluation Technologies for Advanced Manufacturing Qualification

This project will develop an enhanced mechanical evaluation capability and capacity, to enable advanced manufacturing technologies to be accredited for use in future reactor plant. High technology mechanical evaluation demonstrators will be produced (creep, fatigue and fracture studies) and will integrate applied research, along with equipment development and incorporation of advanced non-contact capture and measurement systems, with appropriate data handling procedures and analysis. This will improve the state-of-the-art in mechanical evaluation for qualifying manufacturing and materials technologies, through reducing the numbers of tests required, reducing time for evaluation and allowing control of cyclic tests in different regions of composite or graded structures such as weldments.