The efficient and safe design of structures, be they passenger transport vehicles, offshore platforms, pressure vessels or process equipment, is vital to their continued profitable operation. Regulators increasingly place demands on manufacturers and operators for higher levels of safety, while purchasers and end customers continually drive designers to seek capital and operating cost reductions.
Therefore, a clear need exists for methods which can be used with confidence to design and assess -
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Frazer-Nash Consultancy has an established reputation for supplying design and assessment services to clients in the transport, process, power and other industries.
Structural Integrity Assessment
Structural Integrity Assessment (SIA) is one of the keys to safe and economic plant, equipment and system operation. It relies upon a full knowledge of the loads seen by the structure, an understanding of the local stress environment, the behaviour of the materials and methods of construction used. Frazer-Nash is practised at performing structural integrity assessments both in support of new design projects and when troubleshooting.
Assessment Methods
Many organisations offering SIA concentrate upon a single aspect of this engineering assessment discipline such as the failure, metallurgy or validation by design code. An appropriate understanding of the adequacy of a structure requires a wider engineering perspective drawing upon the elements of design, manufacturing, structural analysis, fatigue life assessment, failure assessment, metallurgy and materials behaviour and condition monitoring. In each case, Frazer-Nash tailors the assessment elements chosen to suit the application and to give the customer the degree of confidence required.
Design and Service Loading
Any assessment is only as good as the data upon which it is based. Without a firm understanding of the design and service environment, it is impractical to attempt to assure the future performance, life or safety of any structure. Frazer-Nash is experienced in obtaining load data by field measurement, bespoke trials or calculation.
Impact, Blast and Shock
Short duration, high amplitude transients may cause structural failure. With a strong background in the design of military systems, Frazer-Nash is well placed to assess the structural performance of systems subjected to these extreme environments. With extensive experience in the prediction of the dynamic response of structures subjected to thermal shock, blast and impact loads, government authorities and major contractors have benefited from our advice on design changes to reduce damage originating from blast and shock events.
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Structural Performance and Assessment
Structural performance assessment may address issues broader than the integrity of a structure, eg. the crashworthiness of a new passenger vehicle, or the ability of a machinery mounting system to limit the vibration levels that it transmits during operation. Many of the assessments undertaken by Frazer-Nash are in support of design projects, with the aim of increasing performance and reducing the product's development costs and time to market.
Environmental Vibration
Exposure to prolonged periods of high amplitude vibration can induce structural fatigue. This problem is particularly critical when operating with hazardous materials or processes, as in the petro-chemical and nuclear industries. Excessive vibration levels can also cause noise problems in surrounding manned areas such as accommodation on offshore platforms.
Frazer-Nash is able to simulate the structural components of equipment and process plant at the design stage to obtain predictions of environmental vibration levels. Where the existence of a severe vibration problem occurs, we can identify the structural mechanism responsible, propose and test design modifications.
Vibration Isolation
Frazer-Nash combines expertise in dynamic analysis and practical engineering design to provide a solution to vibration isolation requirements ranging from equipment mounted under trains to that contained in nuclear submarines. Following system analysis, we can either recommend a solution based on commercially available isolators or, if required, design a bespoke mounting system.
If you would like further information about our services or products, or want to know if we can assist you in a particular project, please complete the form on the Contact Us page.