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Technology Strategy BoardDriving Innovation
Building UK leadership in aerodynamicsCOMPETITION FOR COLLABORATIVE R&D FUNDINGJULY 2012
02 | Technology Strategy Board
Building UK leadership in aerodynamicsCOMPETITION FOR COLLABORATIVE R&D FUNDING
Summary
The Technology Strategy Board is to invest up to £20m in collaborative research and development that builds business-winning capability and intellectual leadership in support of the aims of a UK centre for aerodynamics. This competition will enhance capability to support innovation in aerospace technology, encourage commercialisation of new ideas and help to spin-off technologies with wider application in other areas.
This is an open competition. We are looking to fund applied research projects attracting up to 50% public funding. Proposals must be collaborative and business-led. A clear route to exploitation is essential and, to this end, the participation of major manufacturers or suppliers – tier 1 or tier 2 aerospace businesses – and a mix of industrial and academic collaborators is strongly encouraged. We expect to invest between £1m and £2.5m in each successful project, although projects outside this range will be considered. Projects are likely to last no longer than three years. All projects must start in 2012.
This is a single-stage competition. It opens on 16 July 2012 and the deadline for registration is at noon on 22 August 2012. The deadline for completed applications is at noon on 29 August 2012. A briefing webinar will be held on 25 July 2012.
Background
The UK has the second largest aerospace industry in the world with significant capabilities in the key areas of: engines; airframe structures and materials; equipment; and air transport system integration. This has been achieved by innovative stakeholders bringing leading-edge technologies to market. Today, the industry faces fresh challenges from globalisation, new competitors and climate change.
The growth of global air traffic over the last 50 years has been substantial, and forecasts indicate that it will continue at around 5% a year. The resulting demand for new aircraft that meet the exacting environmental and operational performance demanded by society presents an enormous opportunity for the UK.
Meeting this demand sustainably, affordably, reliably and safely depends heavily on continuous and intensive research, innovation and technology application.
In March 2012 the Government announced that it would invest £60m over two years in the creation of a world-class UK centre for aerodynamics to open in 2012. The centre will bring together world-class academic and industry experts to drive the UK’s intellectual leadership in aerodynamics and create the links needed to convert this into economic value for the UK manufacturing sector.
The high-level objectives are to:
1. achieve a step change in the UK’s capability in complex aerodynamics by creating a virtual UK centre for aerodynamics
2. push the technological boundaries of aerodynamics through collaborative research and development
3. showcase the UK’s capabilities in complex aerodynamics to a global aerospace community.
The aerodynamics centre therefore seeks to build UK capability in aerodynamics by:
K funding high-quality work that can play a direct role in wealth creation, principally through the aerospace industry
K investing in a set of key test facilities, essential to supporting the first objective
K raising the UK international reputation in aerodynamics through funding high-quality, intellectually challenging work that can be published and presented widely
K showcasing and representing the UK internationally.
This competition is one of a number of measures put in place to serve these objectives.
Technology Strategy Board | 03
Building UK leadership in aerodynamicsCOMPETITION FOR COLLABORATIVE R&D FUNDING
Scope
The aim of this competition is to stimulate businesses to work together and with academia in order to:
K accelerate progress in key high-potential aerodynamic technologies to exploit current capabilities and position the UK for future wealth creation
K improve co-ordination and collaboration amongst and between UK businesses, academia and centres of aerodynamic capability to reduce fragmentation
K bring together academic and industry experts to form a cohesive endeavour for intellectual leadership and wealth creation.
To support the development of a network of capability in the UK, we require applicants to nominate a world-leading scientific/technical expert. The capability, expertise and international renown of that expert should be clearly described in the application. We would expect that expert to engage with the network as the centre develops and grows its capability.
The projects must align with one or more of the technology areas below.
Validation and experimental capabilitiesK Integration of research level advanced
flow diagnostics into industrial facilities
K Use of advanced flow diagnostics for validation of advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) (for example, large eddy simulation [LES])
K Experiments for validation of advanced methods (for example laminar-turbulent transition)
K Experimental investigations into unsteady flows including unsteady flow/structure interaction
K Experimental investigations into the flows around complex bluff bodies (for example, landing gear)
K Rapid prototyping techniques for rapid experimental test-piece manufacture
Prediction capabilityK Mesh and geometry handling
K Moving body, moving mesh simulations
K Turbulence and transition modelling
K Coupled simulations, for example fluid and structure, combustion and turbine
K Uncertainty quantification in design
K Off-design simulation
K High-speed, high-temperature and cooling flows
K Improving confidence of icing prediction to reduce dependence on flight test
Aero acoustics and unsteady flowK Validated prediction methods for
airframes and propulsion noise
K Validated methods for active control and/or flow control for noise and performance
K Acquisition of high-fidelity measured data for method validation
K Whole aircraft noise prediction
Multidisciplinary design and integration processesK Configuration and conceptual design
and assessment
K Enhanced integration of analysis toolsets into design process
K Multi-fidelity and/or multidisciplinary processes and techniques
K Aerodynamics/manufacturing compatibility
K Managing fluid-structure interactions
K Integration of icing effects
K Optimisation of failure case analysis for improved aerodynamic design
Multidisciplinary design and integration technologiesK Integration of novel aerodynamic
technologies
K Novel configuration architectures for new product drivers
K Advanced powerplant arrangements
K Investigation of the benefits of novel loads management and alleviation
K Demonstration of active aero-elastic stability
K Investigation of opportunities for novel control effectors
K Investigation of the benefits of active or passive boundary layer control
Rotor aerodynamicsK Fundamental studies in the areas of
shock boundary layer interactions and dynamic stall
K Noise and aero-acoustic modelling for rotors including blade vortex and wake interaction
K Modelling of active rotors and flow control for alleviation of dynamic stall and control
K Rotors interactional aerodynamics modelling and design including tilt rotor flows
K Establishing an experimental dataset for a rotating blade
K Rotor aerodynamics tools with rotor aero -elasticity including design optimisation
Securing a UK capability in supersonic and hypersonic aerothermodynamics K Experiments and /or simulations
improving our understanding, including real gas effects, reacting chemistry, shock wave boundary layer interactions, heat transfer, extreme temperature fluid structure interaction
K Prediction of non-continuum flows, plumes, transition, aero-propulsive balancing, surface ablation, noise propagation
K Investigation or study of novel airframe designs, including propulsion integration and flow control
© Technology Strategy Board July 2012 T12/075 Printed on 100% recycled paper.
Building UK leadership in aerodynamicsCOMPETITION FOR COLLABORATIVE R&D FUNDING
The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led executive non-departmental public body, established by the Government. Its role is to promote and support research into, and development and exploitation of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK business, in order to increase economic growth and improve quality of life.
Collaborative research and development is part of the Government’s Solutions for Business portfolio.
The Technology Strategy Board North Star House North Star Avenue Swindon SN2 1UE
Telephone: 01793 442700
www.innovateuk.org
Funding allocation and project details
We have allocated up to £20m to fund collaborative R&D projects that are within the scope of this competition
Projects must be collaborative and can involve science-to-business or business-to-business interactions. Projects must be business-led; therefore academics can apply only as a collaboration partner in a consortium. A mix of industrial and academic collaborators is strongly encouraged. The participation of tier 1 or tier 2 aerospace businesses in the consortium is also strongly encouraged to ensure a clear route to exploitation.
Each consortium must be associated with a world-leading scientific/technical expert who would be expected to contribute to networking in the UK centre as it develops. The consortium should therefore clearly describe the capability, expertise and international renown of that expert in the application.
Applications are expected in the area of applied research, which can attract up to 50% public sector funding of total eligible project costs. We expect to invest between £1m and £2.5m in each successful project, although projects outside this range will be considered.
Projects are likely to last no longer than three years. All projects must start in 2012. All projects must incur and defray at least half of their eligible project costs by March 2014.
All applications will be assessed on individual merit in accordance with the normal Technology Strategy Board process. However, in order to ensure coverage of the whole technology scope, we reserve the right to apply a ‘portfolio’ approach across the seven technology areas, subject to applications meeting the required quality threshold.
Application process
This is a single-stage competition. The competition opens on 16 July 2012. The deadline for registration is at noon on 22 August 2012 and the deadline for applications is at noon on 29 August 2012.
A briefing webinar will take place on 25 July 2012 to highlight the main features of the competition and explain the application process.
Note: All deadlines are at noon
More information
To apply for this competition you must first register with us. You can do this by going to our web page for this competition at www.innovateuk.org under Competitions. When you register you will get access to all the supporting information you need to read before you apply, including the Guidance for Applicants and the application form.
Competition helpline: 0300 321 4357
Email: [email protected]
Publicity
As part of the application process all applicants are asked to submit a public description of the project. This should adequately describe the project but not disclose any information that may impact on intellectual property, is confidential or commercially sensitive. The titles of successful projects, names of organisations, amounts awarded and the public description will be published once the award is confirmed as final. Information about unsuccessful project applications will remain confidential and will not be made public. E-mail [email protected] with any queries.
Key dates
Competition opens 16 July 2012
Briefing webinar 25 July 2012
Deadline for registration 22 August 2012 noon
Deadline for applications 29 August 2012 noon
Looking for partners to work on your project? Go to _connect (www.innovateuk.org/connect) to find collaborators and networks.
Images reproduced with kind permission of BAE Systems, Williams Grand Prix Engineering Ltd, Rolls-Royce plc and City University.
