Welcome to the latest Frewer Engineering newsletter.

Decarbonising the Industry 

Sustainability has now become a critical focus for all our customers. At Frewer Engineering we take pride in supporting our client-base to bring about successful transformation, pioneering positive change and expediting efforts towards Net Zero.

Our team are currently engaged in the following industry projects:

• Mathematical tool design for optimal solar panel positioning to maximise energy yield, boosting sustainable on-site energy generation for our clients.
• Pioneering composite design and analysis to optimise high-pressure carbon fibre filament-wound hydrogen tanks for fuel cell vehicles, for zero carbon emissions.
• Innovating electric propulsion systems for marine sector customers, minimising emissions and environmental impact in the shipping industry.

Composite Material Qualification Experience

In the aerospace and marine industries, where safety is paramount, material failure in novel designs is simply not an option. The integration of new materials, especially composites, requires thorough validation to meet the demanding requirements of these sectors. Early mitigation through a robust material qualification program is essential to ensuring that risks are

Successful introduction of new materials into safety-critical aspects of engineering is a complex process. A gradual build-up of confidence is required, from material coupon testing, to testing of elements, sub-components and full components, and finally full structural testing – destructive and non-destructive. The process reduces risk at each stage, building up layers of certainty, in the ‘pyramid of structural certification’.

Frewer Engineering specialises in guiding this process for novel lightweight composite materials. We’ve a proven track record of this type of regulatory compliance work in aerospace propulsion and integration. Though regulating authorities may change between sectors, the process tends to be industry-agnostic and translates well for our customers in other high-performance industries.

Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) Coupled Analysis

Our customers increasingly have a need for multi-discipline analysis work – interactive modelling work combining Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) structural models. These are used for scenarios in which the loading from the fluid has an influence on the movement of the structure, and the movement of the structure in turn has an effect on the fluid, and vice versa.

These types of simulation projects are well serviced at Frewer Engineering, owing to the way our multi-discipline teams are structured. This type of interactive work can be delivered by the same engineer, using multiple software codes, with freedom to switch and interpolate between, using our proprietary scripts and tools.

Where possible, our more complex simulation work is fully validated against real-world test data, but we have to acknowledge that some models are built to simulate extraordinary events, which would be dangerous to test in real-life. For these types of higher risk models, sub-elements are validated to give confidence in the overall combined result.

Cambridge Whittle Lab

We are excited to celebrate the recent topping out ceremony with our key customers at the University of Cambridge’s Whittle Laboratory. This marks a significant milestone in the construction of this pioneering facility. The event not only signifies structural progress but brings us closer to planned advancements in propulsion research and technology.

We are proud to have designed the cutting-edge NCPP (National Centre for Propulsion & Power) test rig, which will be a cornerstone of the Whittle Lab’s research into aerospace propulsion systems.

We extend our congratulations to the University of Cambridge on this achievement and look forward to continued collaboration that will shape the future of propulsion technology.