A new heat treatment process is improving reliability of steel alloy bearings. Phil Burge, from SKF bearings, explains how.

Azrul Mutalib and Hong Hao from The University of Western Australia show how pressure-impulse diagrams for fibrereinforced polymer-strengthened concrete columns can be used to predict failure behaviour.

The National Physical Laboratory’s Louise Wright explains how mathematical modelling can simulate the way products will respond to different environments before they are built, helping manufacturers improve design efficiency and avoid mistakes.

Dr Chris O’Connor, Senior Consultant at GL Noble Denton reports on polyethylene pipe failure in the utilities sector.

Research into stir casting of a metal composite has shown increased resistance to dry sliding wear. Materials scientists Zohair Sarajan, Mehrdad Soltani and SeidAbbas Hoseininejad from Iran outline the process employed.

Professor Christophe Poinssot from the French Atomic Energy Commission gives his view on the controversial area of whether energy generation should come from sources other than nuclear, in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

The opportunities for surface and particulate engineering in nuclear power generation were debated at a recent town meeting.

The Swedish KBS-3 model for geological disposal of spent nuclear fuel is explored by Lena Z Evins, from the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company in Stockholm, and Neil Hyatt of The University of Sheffield, UK.

Dr Brenda Keneghan, Polymer Scientist at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, UK, discusses methods of preserving plastic artefacts.

As the UK embarks on an ambitious concept for a high-speed rail system, Professor Roderick Smith of the Future Rail Research Centre at Imperial College London, explores the challenges ahead.