It is important for the UK engineering structural integrity community for FESI to have strong and constructive links with other relevant bodies and organisations. These links range from professional bodies through to national and international organisations.
Professional bodies
British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing
The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT) is the professional institute for all those engaged in non-destructive testing and condition monitoring. It is concerned with the education and training of its members, and the advancement of the science and practice of the subjects. BINDT was founded in 1976 by amalgamation of the Society of Non-Destructive Examination (SONDE) and the NDT Society of Great Britain (NDTS). Over its 50 years, the Institute has established itself as one of the country’s leading engineering institutions and has achieved professional engineering institute (PEI) status with the Engineering Council.
The object of the Institute is to promote the advancement of the science and practice of non- destructive testing, condition monitoring, diagnostic engineering, and all other materials and quality testing disciplines. In achieving this aim, the Institute, which employs a permanent secretariat at its Northampton headquarters, relies on the support of personnel, companies, and other organisations in the NDT and CM industries.
Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining
The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a major UK engineering institution whose activities encompass the whole materials cycle, from exploration and extraction, through characterisation, processing, forming, finishing and application, to product recycling and land reuse. It exists to promote and develop all aspects of materials science and engineering, geology, mining and associated technologies, mineral and petroleum engineering, and extraction metallurgy, as a leading authority in the worldwide materials and mining community.
IOM3 was formed from the merger of the Institute of Materials and the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy in June 2002. Its roots go back to the Iron and Steel Institute which was established in 1869. It received royal charters in 1899 and 1975 and is a member of the UK Science Council.
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a scientific charity that works to advance physics education, research, and application. It has a worldwide membership of over 50,000. The IOP supports physics in education, research and industry. In addition, the IOP provides services to its members including careers advice and professional development and grants the professional qualification of Chartered Physicist (CPhys), as well as Chartered Engineer (CEng), as a nominated body of the Engineering Council.
The Institute of Physics was formed in 1960 from the merger of the Physical Society, founded as the Physical Society of London in 1874, and the Institute of Physics, founded in 1920.
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Throughout the constantly evolving work of mechanical engineers, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) has been at the heart of the world’s most important and dynamic industries since its formation in 1847. From its purpose-built headquarters at One Birdcage Walk in central London, the institution supports a global membership of 115,000. The market leader among professional engineering bodies, IMechE has a reach that fully represents and reflects the profession: encouraging professional registration and long-term career development.
As a global community of mechanical engineers represented in over 140 countries, IMechE is the largest network of mechanical engineering knowledge, skill, and opportunity in the world. With an ever growing membership based outside the UK, IMechE develops and maintains key partnerships with leading multi-national employers to ensure their technical workforces are trained to the highest standard. By equipping engineers with the right skills, knowledge and experience to help them develop, IMechE contributes to strengthening the world’s leading companies.
Organisations
British Society for Strain Measurement
Founded in 1964 the British Society for Strain Measurement (BSSM) is a non-profit-making scientific, educational, and promotional organisation that seeks to advance the knowledge of strain measurement, stress analysis, and related areas of experimental mechanics.
BSSM provides a forum for the exchange of information on strain measurement and related technologies through specialist conferences, seminars, and workshops; promotes and encourages widely recognised certification in strain gauge application, strain analysis, and stress and load analysis; and provides a forum for publishing research and reviewing equipment and product developments.
The Society is made up of individual, student, corporate, and educational members in the UK and abroad.
Engineering Integrity Society
The Engineering Integrity Society is a long established charitable society focusing on the areas of fatigue, testing, and durability. Members of the EIS have many years of experience in these fields gained through working in some of the best known companies in the industry.
From its headquarters in Cottesmore, Rutland, EIS offers a unique forum for industrial engineers to exchange ideas and experience. Since its foundation in 1985 the Society has made an important contribution to engineering science, holding major national and international conferences, organising and co-ordinating specialist task groups, and presenting technical seminars. Membership is worldwide.
All EIS events are open to members and non-members alike.
Hazards Forum
The Hazards Forum, established in 1989, is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental professional association promoting the study of disasters (and resulting learning), public understanding of risk, and of risk reduction strategies. It was formed by the four major UK-based engineering institutions: the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Electrical Engineers, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and the Institution of Chemical Engineers.
Since then the Forum has broadened its remit to inform the public understanding of risk, while continuing to develop its work on the assessment of hazardous events, dissemination of lessons learned, and the promotion of risk reduction strategies.
The Hazards Forum continues to grow as a community and has a range of membership options available including corporate affiliate and individual.
Lloyd’s Register Foundation
The Lloyd’s Register Foundation is a UK charity established in 2012. With its mission to protect the safety of life and property, and to advance transport and engineering education and research, the Foundation has an important role to play in meeting the challenges of today and the future.
The Foundation’s vision is to be known worldwide as a leading supporter of engineering-related research and education that is making a real difference in improving the safety of the critical infrastructure on which modern society relies. In support of this, it promotes scientific excellence and act as a catalyst working with others to achieve maximum impact.
Through its grant making, Lloyd’s Register Foundation aims to connect science, safety, and society by supporting research of the highest quality and promoting skills and education.
Technical Advisory Group on Structural Integrity
Technical Advisory Group on the Structural Integrity of High Integrity Plant (TAGSI) provides an effective forum for the evaluation of technical matters on structural integrity of concern to the UK nuclear industry.
The purpose of TAGSI is to address issues raised by its sponsoring organisations in discussion with eminent independent advisors. TAGSI reports to its sponsors. TAGSI’s recommendations are made to its sponsoring organisations. Collectively, these sponsoring organisations operate, maintain, assess, and regulate nuclear power producing and chemical plant.
TAGSI technical responses include: fracture; high temperature materials; irradiation embrittlement; risk and reliability; inspection; statistical methods; environmentally assisted cracking; and impact.
UK Research Centre in Non-Destructive Evaluation
The UK Research Centre in Non-Destructive Evaluation (RCNDE) is an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)-sponsored collaboration between industry and academia to co- ordinate research into non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technologies, and to ensure research topics are relevant to the medium to longer-term needs of industry. RCNDE continues to be founded on the guiding principles of world-class scientific research and industrial application. RCNDE’s vision is to see NDE transform into a fully integrated part of the engineering life cycle. RCNDE will progressively link up with other disciplines, particularly structural integrity, materials science and engineering design.
Overseas
Chinese Structural Integrity Consortium
The China Structural Integrity Consortium (CSIC), that has strong links with FESI, was formed in 2012 by the Materials, Pressure Vessel and Failure Analysis branches of the China Mechanical Engineering Society. The function of CSIC is to provide a collaborative focus on structural integrity within China, particularly in relation to research and development activities. Links to structural integrity groupings in other countries is also an important consideration for CSIC.
CSIC members include the East China University of Science and Technology, Hefei General Machinery Research Institute, Zhejiang University, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing Tech University, Zhejiang University of Technology, Zhengzhou University, Southwest Jiaotong University, Shandong University, and Changsha University of Technology.
European Structural Integrity Society
The aim of European Structural Integrity Society (ESIS) is to develop and extend knowledge in all aspects of structural integrity whilst disseminating that knowledge worldwide to help improve the safety and performance of engineering equipment, individual components, and structures.
International Congress on Fracture
International Congress on Fracture (ICF) is the premier international body for promotion of worldwide co-operation among scientists and engineers concerned with the mechanics and mechanisms of fracture, fatigue and strength of solids.
The objects of the Congress are to foster research in the mechanics and phenomena of fracture, fatigue, and strength of materials for development of materials which are better failure-resistant than the conventional materials and the development of design methods that are better failure-safe than the conventional ones; to promote international co-operation among scientists and engineers in the field, and the integration of the many disciplines involved in such research; and to provide means whereby results of such efforts may be publicly communicated.
The first International Conference on Fracture (ICF1) was held in Sendai, Japan, in November 1965 but it was in 1969, at ICF2 in Brighton, England, that the ICF was formally founded. Thereafter ICF has organised a major conference every four years.