Doctor of Engineering (EngD): Photonic sensing within civil nuclear infrastructure for lifetime extension and long-term structural health monitoring of de-commissioned plant (EDF)

This project is only available to UK/ EU applicants.

The EngD is an alternative to a traditional PhD aimed at students wanting a career in industry. Students spend about 75% of their time working directly with a company in addition to receiving advanced-level training from a broad portfolio of technical and business courses. On completion students are awarded the PhD-equivalent EngD.

The existing fleet of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the UK have been granted life extensions into the 2020s and 2030s. Lifetime extension is associated with an increased need for monitoring to ensure safe operation. To achieve this, while keeping the cost of investment in new instrumentation infrastructure down, innovative and robust sensor solutions and ways to analyse measurement data automatically are required. Following de-commissioning and partial de-construction of NPPs, it is critical that many monitoring systems remain operational for decades to alert the custodian of the plant of any structural deterioration that may cause further damage or risk to personnel. Photonics and fibre optics hold the promise of high-resolution measurement, multiplexing, robustness, security and longevity. Consequently, this EngD project will address the plethora of engineering issues to develop remote monitoring systems for key civil structures with an NPP. Among other things, the project will develop and demonstrate a combined system for monitoring crack deterioration and CO2 leakage in multiple locations of a pressure vessel housing an Advanced Gas Reactor.

The project will assess a number of competing photonic techniques that can be employed for these tasks, including distributed and semi-distributed strain sensors, and various techniques for gas sensing, compatible with a multiplexed system. Interferometric techniques may need to be deployed to measure very small changes in strain or displacement. Methods of sensor integration with plant ensuring long-term stability will be developed while ensuring cost effectiveness. Machine learning and other techniques, e.g., tipping point analysis will be investigated to assist in the detection of structural deterioration. Following laboratory investigations, a demonstration system will be deployed within an operating NPP. The project is expected to push the boundaries of the current state of the art in fibre-optic measurement in the areas of photonic systems integration and automatic data analysis from a distributed photonic sensor network.

Information for applicants:
The successful applicant will be a registered student of the University of Strathclyde and will complete technical courses at the Universities of St Andrews, Glasgow and Strathclyde before being embedded within the company for the majority of their research.

The candidate is required to hold at least a 1st or upper 2nd class honours degree in Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, or Physics.

Exposure to photonics and mechanical engineering as part of the undergraduate or postgraduate curriculum of the candidate would be of benefit. Additionally, the candidate should be able to demonstrate awareness of and interest in the area of large-scale engineering application.