At nC² we’re proud to be a centre for erosion testing excellence – and here’s the man whose expertise puts us at the forefront. Dr Jelili Bello (JB) specialises in air-sand and water-sand (slurry) erosion testing, using our unique test rigs to recreate the complexities of clients’ specific in-service conditions.

With many years’ experience, JB is well placed to understand your engineering issues and design the right tests for the insights you need, whether you’re looking to solve an erosion-related problem or select the best coating or material for your product.

If tapping into JB’s erosion testing expertise could help move your project forward, please get in touch.

Grappling with a tricky materials-related problem? We offer free, no-strings initial consultations, so you can talk to our expert materials scientists and we’ll help you find the right solution.

Get in touch to arrange a video or phone call, or even better come and meet us in person and take a lab tour to see our capabilities for yourself.

This highly magnified image and its colourful counterpart show the results of hardness testing – in this case, 20 hardness values in martensitic stainless steel.

Hardness testing – typically of metals – is one of the many materials characterisation techniques we perform for our clients, and can help to:

• check whether a metal’s hardness matches assumed values
• give an indication of other material properties, such as strength
• determine changes that indicate whether a metal has been inadvertently heat-treated in service
• identify any hardening that has taken place due to in-service material deformation (otherwise known as strain hardening) to give insights into loading condition

If hardness testing would help you with a product design, materials selection or performance issue, we can help – get in touch for a free initial consultation.

As a university-based consultancy, we have access to a wealth of additional specialist expertise that we can bring on board to support our clients’ projects. Basically, if we can’t do it, we know someone who can!

Our partners include leading experts in a range of fields, from advanced imaging techniques to polymer chemistry, nanotribology and computational fluid dynamics. You can read their profiles here.

This image shows the results of slurry (sand and water) erosion testing carried out in our labs on a metal surface.

At nC² we have the capabilities to conduct robust erosion testing and state-of-the-art facilities to characterise the failure mechanism of materials, enabling erosion-resistant materials to be developed. This example is a metal we tested and characterised using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), showing the ductile failure mechanism of the metal due to slurry erosion.

If you’re looking for insights from erosion testing, we’d be pleased to hear from you.

Our precision balance works to 0.00001 g accuracy (ie 10 micrograms). It has touch-operated slide doors and is isolated from vibration, sitting on a floating granite base with rubber feet.

We use it for wear experiments and other tests to identify loss of material, and in failure investigations to confirm expected weights.

Would your project benefit from our state-of-the-art equipment and expertise? If so, get in touch and let’s talk.

Our Senior Corrosion Consultant Dr Spencer Court has been busy measuring the electric potential of metal structures within the University of Southampton Towing Tank to ensure they stay corrosion-free for many years to come.

If you’d like to know more about our corrosion monitoring services, get in touch and we’ll be happy to discuss your requirements.

It was great to meet students at the Physics Careers Speed Networking Event at King Edward VI School, Southampton, where we talked about what nC² does and the many exciting career opportunities that STEM subjects can open up. All part of our mission to inspire future generations of engineers and materials scientists.

Thanks for having us!

With International Women in Engineering Day fast approaching, what better time to introduce a recent addition to our network of experts, Dr Dimitra Georgiadou.

If your company is seeking insights into novel nanoscale electronic/optoelectronic materials or devices, Dimitra can help. She is our go-to specialist for the fabrication, testing and characterisation of thin films and opto/electronic devices, including flexible substrates and organic materials. She is skilled in the use of advanced characterisation techniques, such as Kelvin probe and atomic force microscopy (AFM), using the University’s suite of high-spec instruments.

This vivid image illustrates the power of erosion.

In combination, water and sand have strong erosive properties, as receding coastlines demonstrate. In an industrial context, at nC² we can test the effect of erosion on materials and components using our state-of-the-art sand/water slurry rig.

The image shows a strong steel sample that has been blasted with slurry perpendicular to the surface. The colours represent the amount of erosion that took place after just 2 hours of exposure. The middle of the sample was left untouched because of a cancelling out effect in the centre. The outside was not so lucky and a donut ring of material was eroded away.

To find out more about our erosion testing services, please get in touch with our expert team.

Hurrah for the students at The Mountbatten School in Romsey, who answered our SOS call and recovered our stolen lab keys from the evil Professor Nogood! We set them our escape-room style challenge as part of the school’s Big Bang outreach day. They got stuck in with enthusiasm, working together to crack a series of science and engineering puzzles, each one revealing a code to unlock a box and ultimately retrieve the keys.

One teacher said: “Our students absolutely loved the tribology escape room! The hands-on tasks are engaging and educational, offering a perfect blend of fun and learning.”

And it was great fun for the nC² team too. All part of our mission to inspire new generations of scientists and engineers.

Abrasion takes place when, during operation, mechanical components slide against other surfaces. To limit this type of damage, surfaces are protected with coatings.

At nC² we have specialist micro abrasion facilities to assess the abrasion resistance of coatings, including evaluating the multilayer thickness of a coating, as shown in this image.

If you’re looking for reliable and robust abrasion testing and analysis – perhaps to help select the best coating for a new product, improve a design where abrasion has caused failure, or set appropriate inspection and maintenance schedules – get in touch for a free initial consultation.

Learn more about our abrasion testing services.

We have a vast range of capabilities at our fingertips thanks to our ever-growing network of experts. For example, if your project involves elemental or isotopic analysis we can call on the specialist skills and knowledge of Professor Andy Milton, Dr Matthew Cooper and Dr Agnes Macey-Michalik at the Centre for Earth Research and Analysis Southampton (CERAS).

With a wealth of experience and a range of advanced facilities, they can optimise samples and select the right instruments to get the data you are looking for. Learn more about the CERAS team.

Although long retired from battle, HMS Victory is still vulnerable to attack. Senior Consultant Rachel Triggs has been on TV and radio news talking about nC²‘s work on the use of nanoparticles to help protect Nelson’s flagship from rainwater, fungus and deathwatch beetles.

Watch Rachel explain the project in the video, and read about how we’re using futuristic science to help preserve a historical treasure.

Professor Nicola Symonds recently attended the International Maritime Pilots’ Association (IMPA) Congress in Rotterdam to present the results of our work on the safe use of pilot ladders.

Ladder-related accidents claim the lives of maritime pilots and other seafarers every year. This was the first study to use mechanical testing to determine the safest way to tie off ladders; using our evidence, IMPA’s aim is to strengthen international standards and ultimately prevent injury and loss of life.

Find out more about the pilot ladders project.

Some BIG billboards for a project with big impact! We’re proud that our work supporting the conservation of HMS Victory is being highlighted across the city alongside other University of Southampton achievements. Our Director, Professor Nicola Symonds, is shown for scale! 

Learn more about our work on the HMS Victory project.