Dr Richard Collins
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Senior Lecturer in Water Engineering
+44 114 222 5715
Full contact details
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Room F119
Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)
Mappin Street
ºù«Ӱҵ
S1 3JD
- Profile
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Our water distribution systems are vitally important. My research helps to improve the quality and safety of our drinking water.
Dr Richard Collins
Richard graduated from the University of ºù«Ӱҵ with a degree in Aerospace Engineering in 2005. He completed his PhD on the use of smart materials in valves in the Departments of Materials and Mechanical Engineering.
In 2009 he joined our Department as a researcher looking into the risks of hydraulic transients in water distribution systems.
- Research interests
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Richard’s research helps to ensure our vitally important water distribution systems are durable and resilient enough to withstand the conditions they have to cope with.
In trying to understand the complex problems our ageing water infrastructure faces, he hopes to make a major contribution to improving operation, control and management of existing buried pipe infrastructure, maximising its performance and helping to guarantee the quality and safety of drinking water.
Richard’s current research interests are involved with the dynamics of water distribution systems and specifically the assessment and mitigation of risks of pressure transients. He studies pressure transients, measures changes in the properties inside pipes to detect pressure waves and aims to locate damage or blockages.
This covers all aspects of hydraulic transients, from probabilistically modelling their propagation, to assessing their potential to cause water quality failures. This work is funded by RCUK and relevant industrial partners.
In addition, Richard is part of projects exploring the future of water distribution, from smart infrastructure to autonomous robotic systems.
Activities and Research Projects:
- Probabilistic Transient Propagation
- Publications
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Journal articles
- . Engineering Failure Analysis, 165.
- . Engineering Integrity – Journal of the Engineering Integrity Society, 56, 12-17.
- . International Journal of Fatigue, 178.
- . Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 104, 101991-101991.
- . Infrastructures, 6(2).
- . Water Research, 194, 116890-116890.
- . Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, 11(2), 04020013-04020013.
- . Smart Water, 4.
- . Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, 5(12), 2132-2141.
- . Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, 10(1).
- . Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, 9(3).
- . Journal of Hydroinformatics, 20(4), 815-828.
- . Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 144(7).
- . Structural Health Monitoring, 17(4), 959-970.
- . Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 143(9).
- . Applied Acoustics, 119, 146-155.
- . Journal of Hydraulic Engineering.
- . Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology - Aqua, 65(2), 103-115.
- . Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems, 33(1), 70-84.
- . Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 142(1).
- . PLOS ONE, 10(2), e0115824-e0115824.
- . Procedia Engineering, 70, 592-601.
- . Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 139(10), 1052-1061.
- Modelling both the continual erosion and regeneration of discolouration material in drinking water distribution systems. New Developments in IT & Water.
- . Journal of the American Water Works Association, 104(4), E243-E251.
- Twisting of non-linear elastic tubes using shape memory alloys. Journal of Smart Materials and Structures.
- . Sensors, 20(19), 5584-5584.
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Conference proceedings papers
- Experimental validation of a model for predicting the bending fatigue strength of corroded grey cast iron water pipes. Proceedings of the 9th Engineering Integrity Society International Conference on Durability & Fatigue, Vol. 2 (pp 482-493). Cambridge, UK, 19 June 2024 - 19 June 2024.
- Propagating Uncertainties in Hydraulic Transient Modelling using a Non-Intrusive Polynomial Chaos Methods. 2018 WDSA / CCWI Joint Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1. Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 23 July 2018 - 25 July 2018.
- Transient Mobilisation of Replicated Biofilms. WDSA / CCWI Joint Conference 2018, 23 July 2018 - 25 July 2018.
- Leak detection in a long pipe system. 13th International Conference on Pressure Surges, Vol. 1 (pp 187-200)
- Comparison of probabilistic modelling techniques for transients in water distribution networks. 13th International Conference on Pressure Surges, Vol. 2 (pp 805-817)
- . 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 29 May 2017 - 3 June 2017.
- Can a valve closure transient cause mobilisation of adhered particles?. CCWI 2017 - 15th International Conference on Computing and Control for the Water Industry
- A theory for realistic modelling of leakage and intrusion flows through leak openings in pipes. CCWI 2017 - 15th International Conference on Computing and Control for the Water Industry
- . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 186 (pp 311-318)
- . 2017 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), 3 July 2017 - 7 July 2017.
- Robotic Mapping and Localisation in Feature Sparse Water Pipes. 19th World Conference on Non Destructive Testing, 13 March 2017 - 17 March 2017.
- Soil Saturation Detection from in Pipe Ultrasound Measurements. 19th World Conference on Non Destructive Testing
- Do transients contribute to turbidity failures of water distribution systems?. BHR Group - 12th International Conference on Pressure Surges (pp 297-308)
- A method to characterise transients from pressure signals recorded in real water distribution networks. BHR Group - 12th International Conference on Pressure Surges (pp 609-623)
- . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 119 (pp 1473-1482)
- . ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE), Vol. 13-2015
- . Volume 13: Vibration, Acoustics and Wave Propagation, 13 November 2015 - 19 November 2015.
- Effect of voids on the bending response of buried flexible utility pipes. 68th Canadian Geotechnical Conference and 7th Canadian Permafrost Conference, 20 September 2015 - 23 September 2015.
- IMPROVING LEAK LOCATION ACCURACY BY OPTIMISING THE TIME DELAY MEASUREMENT OF ACOUSTIC EMISSION FROM LEAKS IN MOPE PIPE. PROCEEDINGS OF THE 22ND INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON SOUND AND VIBRATION
- (pp 161-166)
- . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 119 (pp 148-157)
- . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 119 (pp 35-42)
- . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 89 (pp 1306-1313). Bari, Italy, 14 July 2014 - 14 July 2014.
- . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 89 (pp 286-289)
- . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 89 (pp 1321-1328)
- . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 89 (pp 135-142)
- . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 70 (pp 1582-1591)
- Transient source localisation methodology and laboratory validation. 12th International Conference on Computing and Control for the Water Industry, Perugia, Italy. Perugia, Italy
- . Procedia Engineering(70) (pp 668-677). Perugia, Italy, 2 September 2013 - 4 September 2013.
- Time dependent area of leaks in MDPE pipes during transient events. BHR Group - 11th International Conferences on Pressure Surges (pp 113-125)
- The structure and stability of drinking water biofilms. 14th Water Distribution Systems Analysis Conference 2012, WDSA 2012, Vol. 1 (pp 455-467)
- Onset detection of transient waves using a novel experimental data set. BHR Group - 11th International Conferences on Pressure Surges (pp 707-720)
- Intrusion and leakage through cracks and slits in plastic (MDPE) pipes. 14th Water Distribution Systems Analysis Conference 2012, WDSA 2012, Vol. 2 (pp 807-815)
- Intrusion into water distribution systems through leaks and orifices: Initial experimental results. 11th Computing and Control in the Water Industry 2011. Exeter
- Intrusion modelling and the effect of groundwater conditions. 11th Annual International Symposium on Water Distribution Systems Analysis. Arizona, USA
- . The 3rd International Joint Conference on Water Distribution Systems Analysis & Computing and Control for the Water Industry (WDSA/CCWI 2024) (pp 208-208)
- . The 3rd International Joint Conference on Water Distribution Systems Analysis & Computing and Control for the Water Industry (WDSA/CCWI 2024), Vol. 51 (pp 38-38)
- . The 3rd International Joint Conference on Water Distribution Systems Analysis & Computing and Control for the Water Industry (WDSA/CCWI 2024), Vol. 128–129 (pp 20-20)
- . Proceedings - 2nd International Join Conference on Water Distribution System Analysis (WDSA)& Computing and Control in the Water Industry (CCWI), 18 July 2022 - 22 July 2022.
- . Proceedings - 2nd International Join Conference on Water Distribution System Analysis (WDSA)& Computing and Control in the Water Industry (CCWI), 18 July 2022 - 22 July 2022.
Reports
- Cratering associated with failure of pressurised water mains
- Literature review: cratering associated with failure of pressurised water mains
Software / Code
Datasets
Other
- Research group
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Water Distribution Systems and Infrastructure
- Grants
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Past Grants
The EPSRC-funded Grand Challenge Centre for Water, comprising 6 UK universities and 100+ industrial partners working in collaboration to develop the sustainable water solutions of the future and to accelerate innovation uptake across the water sector.
This project is assisting Datatecnics with research and development of their Critical Infrastructure Pipeline Protection System® (CIPPS®) product, including support for development of a pipe fatigue model for water trunk and distribution mains and support for field testing of prototype fatigue monitoring devices at United Utilities.
- Potential PhD offerings
Unfortunately I am not seeking any PhD Students at this time, however please contact me if you are interested in doing a project in my research area.