Bath University is one of the UK’s leading science and engineering universities, and has carried out research in the automotive industry for 40 years, to help improve efficiency and reduce pollution. Having recently purchased the Bristol and Bath Science Park in partnership with South Gloucestershire council for £18M, to realise the park’s potential and fully develop it into a centre of excellence, Bath University will be developing their brand-new specialist IAAPS research facility at the park. The 36-acre park will provide an innovative space for business and academic research, and is the optimum location for the construction of the £70M IAAPS facility, which will carry out research into future advanced propulsion systems and work closely with industry to meet CO2 emission targets – net zero by 2050.
The new facility will contain state-of-the-art equipment and deliver detailed research into ultra low and zero emission vehicles, the continued electrification of vehicles, unique propulsion system layouts and configurations for driverless cars, next-generation fuels and high efficiency combustion engines. The facility will support academics, industrial partners, and SMEs. IAAPS is projected to stimulate over £67M in additional automotive research investment by 2025 and create a turnover of £800M for the British automotive industry as well as supporting 1900 high-value jobs. IAAPS was given £28.9M investment from Research England and £10M from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership.
The automotive sector in the UK is very strong, with a new vehicle rolling off the production line every 20 seconds, and an export market worth £35B. The IAAPS will help it adapt to increasing competitiveness and stricter environmental regulations. It will contain extensive facilities to test new experimental vehicles, and compound Bath’s existing research, which includes the ‘Ultraboost’ project – a prototype 2L gasoline engine with the same performance as a 5L V8. Such innovations will be crucial to Britain remaining at the forefront (or in the driver’s seat) of the automotive industry. The state-of-the-art equipment will be provided by AVL. Global companies, including McLaren, Ford and Jaguar Land Rover have been key to the success of the IAAPS concept.
Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Bath, said: “I am delighted that IAAPS has received the support and backing of the Government. The University of Bath has over 40 years of automotive research excellence in collaboration with some of the world’s leading companies and is ideally placed to turn this opportunity into a reality. I look forward to this fantastic facility opening its doors in 2020, helping to ensure the UK maintains and expands its global position within the automotive sector.”
Manufacture of the deck will be completed by CMF in Autumn 2019, and will be delivered to site in September and October so that Studwelders CFD can begin installation. After attaching FASET-compliant safety netting to allow the decking and studwelding teams to work safely, Studwelders CFD will install over 5000 square metres of traditional dovetail re-entrant MetFloor 55, a favourite of British architects since the 1970s. They will securely fasten the decking to the steel framework using CSC Composite Shear Connectors, developed by CFD Group to be the perfect accompaniment to the MetFloor range.
Despite only initiating production in 2015, millions of CSC steel shear studs have already been manufactured and installed on hundreds of projects. Adhering to BS EN ISO 13918:2018 and ISO/TR 15608, CSC shear studs are manufactured in 4 different diameters and numerous different lengths. The CSC production line is the first and only of its kind in the UK. CSC shear studs can be manufactured with diameters of 16mm, 19mm, 22mm and 25mm and are designed with large flux balls, making them suitable for the through-deck welding carried out by the skilled Studwelders CFD installation teams. Studwelders teams are projected to have finished work by late 2019, and construction is set to be completed in late 2020, in time for the 2021 inauguration of the ground-breaking facility.
Whilst the installation of the CSC product line was the first expansion to CFD Group’s capabilities since the manufacturing of MetFloor began in 2008, both production and the extent of the expanded product range have ramped up exponentially since then, after the installation of the MetPurl production line, the introduction of the MetPurl, MetMezz and MetForm product ranges, and the addition of the MetStructures and CMS companies to the CFD Group, showing that just as IAAPS will help to innovate and drive the development of the British automotive industry, CFD Group is adapting to build the future of cold-formed steel construction in the UK.
Studwelders CFD relish working on projects such as IAAPS, which when open will collaborate extensively with industry to help lead the UK back into the driving seat of manufacturing once again as the fourth industrial revolution begins.
