With £36m annual turnover and 458 co-workers, TWI Ltd is the world’s foremost RTO concerned with joining and structural integrity of engineered products and fabrications. Based at Great Abington, UK, since 1946, TWI provides industry with technical support in welding, joining and associated technologies such as materials processing, characterization, NDT and integrity assessment. TWI is internationally renowned for bringing together multidisciplinary teams to implement established or advanced joining technology or to solve problems arising at any stage. It is ISO 9001, 17025 and 14001 and IiP certified. TWI has also significant experience and knowledge in the modeling, simulation and validation/testing of novel materials and process technologies (such as cutting, surfacing and surface engineering).
Also of great interest is the control of distortion and a number of Low Stress/No Distortion (LSND) techniques that have been evaluated and further developed at TWI, friction stir welding, one of the proprietary technologies invented at TWI, and extensive facilities for electron beam welding technology development. All the above mentioned process technologies are supported by a highly experienced world class Metallurgy, Corrosion and Surfacing Technology Group at TWI. In addition to the extensive range of equipment associated with a world leading RTO concerned with joining and structural integrity of engineered products and fabrications, the facilities have large scale fracture and fatigue test facilities and a wide range of welding technologies.
TWI is extensively involved in collaborative research and technology transfer projects across all of its technologies and industry sectors. Collaborative projects currently represent some 20-25% of TWI's total project activity (in the field of Oil and Gas, Offshore wind energy, Nuclear, Aerospace, automotive, etc.). TWI has been appointed to run the new Energy Knowledge Transfer Network that focuses on technology areas: offshore wind, wave and tidal, carbon abatement technologies (including higher efficiency plants, biomass co-firing and carbon capture and storage), hydrogen and fuel cells, maximising oil and gas resources and future emerging opportunities. TWI's business is built around the development and exploitation of advanced technologies. It is on the cutting edge of technological advancement and is recognised as one of the world's leading research and technology organisations. In addition, TWI also has experience in managing and partnering in the EC FP5, FP6 and FP7 projects. When acting a partner to these projects, TWI has successfully delivered the tasks (prototype or techniques) committed within time and budget. These techniques/processes developed through the Framework projects were successfully exploited.
In HiPRWind, TWI is involved in the development of suitable materials for the HiPRwind structure and materials evaluation including inspection and integrity assessment. TWI participates in WP1 in considerations for selection of materials, fabrication and assembly and provide input in constructing a systematic design and selection process as part of the investigation of the technical feasibility of the full scale conceptual design of the test platform. TWI will take part in analysis for the design of structures and their optimisation. TWI is very well suited to advise on aspects of structural durability and fatigue, in establishing design parameters and related limitations through modelling and structural assessment such as fatigue. Based on the analysis results, TWI can contribute in fatigue assessment of the substructures for the tower towards establishing its fatigue design requirements. TWI is highly experienced in assessment of mooring systems and can contribute to the design of the mooring system through materials evaluation and related aspects from a materials structural point of view.
