Award details

Measuring predictors of drag penalty of ship-fouling biofilms

Reference	BB/P004164/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Paul Stoodley
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	University of Southampton
Department	Faculty of Engineering & the Environment
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	47,567
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	01/05/2016
End date	30/04/2017
Duration	12 months

Abstract

Biofilm fouling on ships leads to costly drag penalties, and the marine coatings industry seeks to develop technologies that will eliminate or reduce "slime". This project explores the feasibility of using marine fouling biofilm mechanical and physical properties as predictors of associated drag, and thus more sophisticated metrics of coating performance than the current standard of percent coverage. Biofouling and coatings experts at International Paint, Ltd and biofilm mechanics experts at University of Southampton will partner to develop and validate two innovate methods and apparatuses for measurement of biofilm drag and mechanical/physical properties on intact, immersed biofilms on marine coatings. With these methods, the teams will compile the first dataset of biofilm drag penalties with respect to the mechanical/physical properties of these compliant materials. The test methods and broader knowledge of biofilm properties and drag will directly benefit coatings research and development, product performance modelling, and fundamental materials science.

Summary

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Impact Summary

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Committee	Research Committee A (Animal disease, health and welfare)
Research Topics	Microbiology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Innovate UK (TSB) [2011-2015]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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