Institution news
Speaking on day two of the conference, John will be sharing the techniques and technologies he employs as Operations Manager (Technical) and Chief Technologist (Structural Integrity) for Non Destructive Examinations (NDE) and the data they collect for other assessments. This will be followed by a discussion of some of the common engineering challenges they are facing and the strategies they are using to overcome them.
Q: Could you briefly explain your role and involvement in structural integrity assessment and/or NDT?
John Sharples (JS): I have been involved for approximately 30 years on developing and applying fracture mechanics methodologies to plant components, mainly but not exclusively within the nuclear industry. The methodologies are mainly R6 and BS7910.
Q: What is the number one challenge for those using or benefitting from these technologies in today’s current market?
JS: To have such methodologies available for use that are not excessively conservative and hence enable a reasonable probability of continued operation (for a component containing a defect) or plant life extension to be justified.
Q: What is the most exciting development in this field at the moment, either within your company or in the industry in general?
JS: The better understanding and methodology development associated with crack-tip constraint. This allows benefit to be taken from the fact that cracked structures and components generally exhibit higher fracture toughness values than those evaluated from laboratory specimens and traditionally used in structural integrity assessment.
Q: Where do you see the future of NDT applications and approaches to structural integrity assessment going over the next 5 – 10 years?
JS: There clearly needs to be a better technical appreciation and understanding between the structural integrity assessment and NDT communities so that the respective evaluations can be optimised as far as is possible.
Q: What are you most looking forward to by attending and presenting at Structural Integrity Design and Validation Technologies 2018?
JS: Learning more about NDT issues and developments from the experts in the field who will be presenting.
About the conference
The two day conference will bring together experts from across the field of Non Destructive Testing (NDT), structural integrity, operations and maintenance. Attendees will gain an in-depth understanding of NDT in context of different applications through various cross industry case studies, including Oil & Gas, Power and Rail. Join to learn about new and existing techniques, NDT reliability and validation, as well as real time monitoring solutions for hazardous environments or equipment that is difficult to take out of service.