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Competition summary: joining advanced materials and structures

Updated 12 December 2014

© Crown copyright 2014

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cde-themed-competition-joining-advanced-materials-and-structures/competition-summary-joining-advanced-materials-and-structures

This competition has been withdrawn from the current programme.

Summary

Military platforms need to incorporate an increasingly diverse range of novel and advanced materials to meet the complex and demanding requirements of the armed forces. To assemble structures in line with these demands, there must be methods available to join a wide mix of materials.

This CDE themed competition seeks proposals that will lead to the development of new tools and routes for the creation and management of joints between advanced materials and structures.

Improvements to joining mechanisms could lead to the integration of new materials into military structures, cost savings during the manufacture or repair of platforms, improved durability of joints and improved performance via new design options.

Materials could include metals, ceramics, polymers and composites joined either to themselves or a dissimilar material. We’re also interested in exploring joints that incorporate novel mechanisms and materials produced by advanced manufacturing methods.

The following areas are of particular interest:

  • developing joining methods for novel and advanced materials
  • joining of dissimilar materials, including better understanding of existing methods and routes to new material combinations
  • novel types of joint and improved processes for joining
  • increasing the durability of joints
  • improving adhesion of coatings and cladding
  • inspection of joints, eg non-destructive evaluation, and structural health and usage monitoring
  • development of assessment tools to ensure repairs are fit for purpose

This competition is for research into novel, high-risk, high-reward science and technology that will support military requirements. Proposals should be for proof-of-concept and low technology readiness level[footnote 1] (2-4) research, with a clear outline of how the work would proceed following initial funding.

We’re not looking for literature reviews or applications that don’t have a clear benefit to the military.

  1. Guidance on technology readiness levels can be found in the Acquisition Operating Framework ↩

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