Dr Richard Collins

School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering

Senior Lecturer in Water Engineering

CIV Dr Richard Collins
Profile picture of CIV Dr Richard Collins
r.p.collins@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 5715
Room F119, Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)

Full contact details

Dr Richard Collins
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Room F119
Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Profile

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 Sheffield 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

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

Journal articles

  • John EDA, Boxall JB, Collins RP, Bowman ET & Susmel L (2026) . International Journal of Fatigue, 202.
  • John EDA, Boxall JB, Collins RP, Bowman ET & Susmel L (2025) . Experimental Mechanics, 65(5), 605-623.
  • John E, Boxall J, Collins R, Bowman E & Susmel L (2024) . Engineering Failure Analysis, 165.
  • John E, Boxall J, Collins R, Bowman E & Susmel L (2024) . Engineering Integrity – Journal of the Engineering Integrity Society, 56, 12-17.
  • John E, Boxall J, Collins R, Bowman E & Susmel L (2024) . International Journal of Fatigue, 178.
  • Du H, Wei L, Dimitrova V, Magee D, Clarke B, Collins R, Entwisle D, Eskandari Torbaghan M, Curioni G, Stirling R , Reeves H et al (2023) . Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 104, 101991-101991.
  • Zhu J, Boxall JB, Hills AF, Dwyer-Joyce RS, Anderson SR & Collins RP (2021) . Infrastructures, 6(2).
  • Weston SL, Collins RP & Boxall JB (2021) . Water Research, 194, 116890-116890.
  • Worley R, Ma K, Sailor G, Schirru MM, Dwyer-Joyce R, Boxall JB, Dodd TJ, Collins R & Anderson SR (2020) . Sensors, 20(19).
  • Barr A, Rigby SE, Collins R, Speight V & Christen T (2020) . Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, 11(2).
  • Furnass WR, Mounce SR, Husband S, Collins RP & Boxall JB (2019) . Smart Water, 4.
  • Weston SL, Collins RP & Boxall JB (2019) . Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, 5(12), 2132-2141.
  • Jones SL, Shepherd W, Collins R & Boxall J (2019) . Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, 10(1).
  • Butterfield JD, Collins RP & Beck SBM (2018) . Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, 9(3).
  • Butterfield JD, Meyers G, Meruane V, Collins RP & Beck SBM (2018) . Journal of Hydroinformatics, 20(4), 815-828.
  • Fox S, Boxall JB & Collins R (2018) . Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 144(7).
  • Butterfield JD, Meruane V, Collins RP, Meyers G & Beck S (2018) . Structural Health Monitoring, 17(4), 959-970.
  • van Zyl JE, Lambert AO & Collins R (2017) . Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 143(9).
  • Butterfield JD, Krynkin A, Collins RP & Beck SBM (2017) . Applied Acoustics, 119, 146-155.
  • Fox S, Collins R & Boxall JB (2017) . Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 143(2).
  • Fox S, Collins R & Boxall J (2016) . Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology - Aqua, 65(2), 103-115.
  • Ferrante M, Capponi C, Collins R, Edwards J, Brunone B & Meniconi S (2016) . Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems, 33(1), 70-84.
  • Fox S, Shepherd W, Collins R & Boxall J (2015) . Journal of Hydraulic Engineering.
  • Fish KE, Collins R, Green NH, Sharpe RL, Douterelo I, Osborn AM & Boxall JB (2015) . PLoS ONE, 10(2).
  • Edwards J & Collins R (2014) . Procedia Engineering, 70, 592-601.
  • Collins R & Boxall J (2013) . Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 139(10), 1052-1061.
  • Furnass WR, Collins RP, Husband PS, Sharpe RL, Mounce SR & Boxall JB (2012) Modelling both the continual erosion and regeneration of discolouration material in drinking water distribution systems. New Developments in IT & Water.
  • Collins RP, Boxall JB, Karney BW, Brunone B & Meniconi S (2012) . Journal of the American Water Works Association, 104(4), E243-E251.
  • Collins R & Beck S (2012) Twisting of non-linear elastic tubes using shape memory alloys. Journal of Smart Materials and Structures.
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Conference proceedings

  • Whitelegg C, Collins R, Boxall J & Young S (2024) . Engineering proceedings, Vol. 69(1). Ferrara, Italy, 1 July 2024 - 1 July 2024.
  • MacRorie M, Weston S, Pudasaini K, Price R, Speight V & Collins R (2024) . Proceedings of The 3rd International Joint Conference on Water Distribution Systems Analysis & Computing and Control for the Water Industry (WDSA/CCWI 2024), Vol. 69(1). Ferrara, Italy, 1 July 2024 - 1 July 2024.
  • John E, Boxall J, Collins R, Bowman E & Susmel L (2024) . Engineering Proceedings, Vol. 69(1). Ferrara, Italy, 1 July 2024 - 1 July 2024.
  • John E, Boxall J, Collins R, Bowman E & Susmel L (2024) 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.
  • Kazemi E & Collins R (2018) Propagating uncertainties in hydraulic transient modelling using a non-intrusive polynomial chaos methods. 1st International Wdsa Ccwi 2018 Joint Conference
  • Weston S, Collins RP & Boxall JB (2018) Transient mobilisation of replicated biofilms. WDSA / CCWI Joint Conference 2018. Kingston, Canada, 23 July 2018 - 23 July 2018.
  • Alharbi H, Beck SBM & Collins RP (2018) Leak detection in a long pipe system. 13th International Conference on Pressure Surges, Vol. 1 (pp 187-200)
  • Kazemi E & Collins R (2018) Comparison of probabilistic modelling techniques for transients in water distribution networks. 13th International Conference on Pressure Surges, Vol. 2 (pp 805-817)
  • Ma K, Schirru M, Zahraee AH, Dwyer-Joyce R, Boxall J, Dodd TJ, Collins R & Anderson SR (2017) . 2017 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM). Munich, Germany
  • Ma K, Schirru MM, Zahraee AH, Dwyer-Joyce R, Boxall J, Dodd TJ, Collins R & Anderson SR (2017) . 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) (pp 2548-2553). Singapore
  • Weston S, Collins R & Boxall J (2017) Can a valve closure transient cause mobilisation of adhered particles?. Ccwi 2017 15th International Conference on Computing and Control for the Water Industry
  • Van Zyl JE, Lambert A & Collins R (2017) 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
  • Butterfield JD, Meruane V, Collins RP, Meyers G & Beck SBM (2017) Application of least squares support vector machines and acoustic measurements for leak flow rate prediction. Ccwi 2017 15th International Conference on Computing and Control for the Water Industry
  • Butterfield JD, Collins RP, Krynkin A & Beck SBM (2017) . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 186 (pp 311-318)
  • Ke M, Hassan-Zahraee A, Zhu J, Mills R, Boxall J, Dwyer-Joyce R, Dodd T, Collins R & Anderson SR (2016) Robotic Mapping and Localisation in Feature Sparse Water Pipes. 19th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing. Munich
  • collins R, Zhu J, Mills R & Boxall JB (2016) Soil Saturation Detection from in Pipe Ultrasound Measurements. 19th World Conference on Non Destructive Testing
  • Jones S, Collins R & Boxall J (2016) Do transients contribute to turbidity failures of water distribution systems?. Bhr Group 12th International Conference on Pressure Surges (pp 297-308)
  • Butterfield JD, Collins RP & Beck SBM (2015) . Volume 13: Vibration, Acoustics and Wave Propagation, 13 November 2015 - 19 November 2015.
  • Starczewska D, Collins R & Boxall J (2015) . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 119 (pp 1473-1482). Leicester, 2 September 2015 - 2 September 2015.
  • Starczewska D, Boxall J & Collins R (2015) A method to characterise transients from pressure signals recorded in real water distribution networks. 12th International Conference on Pressure Surges (pp 609-623). Cranfield, UK, 18 November 2015 - 18 November 2015.
  • Ma K, Zhu J, Dodd TJ, Collins R & Anderson SR (2015) . Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems, Vol. 9287 (pp 161-166). Liverpool, UK
  • Sales H, Black JA & Collins RP (2015) Effect of voids on the bending response of buried flexible utility pipes. Proceedings of GéoQuébec 2015. Québec (Québec), Canada, 20 September 2015 - 20 September 2015.
  • Butterfield JD, Beck SBM, Collins RP & Creusere CD (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
  • Butterfield JD, Collins RP & Beck SBM (2015) . ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition Proceedings Imece, Vol. 13-2015
  • Zhu J, Collins RP, Boxall JB, Mills RS & Dwyer-Joyce R (2015) . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 119 (pp 148-157)
  • Fox S, Collins R & Boxall J (2015) . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 119 (pp 35-42)
  • Jones S, Shepherd W, Collins R & Boxall J (2014) . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 89 (pp 1306-1313). Bari, Italy, 14 July 2014 - 14 July 2014.
  • Fox S, Collins R & Boxall J (2014) . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 89 (pp 286-289)
  • Ferrante M, Capponi C, Collins R, Edwards J, Brunone B & Meniconi S (2014) . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 89 (pp 1321-1328)
  • Furnass WR, Douterelo, I , Collins, RP , Mounce & Boxall, JB (2014) . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 89 (pp 135-142)
  • Starczewska D, Collins R & Boxall J (2014) . Procedia Engineering, Vol. 70 (pp 1582-1591)
  • Hampson W, Collins RP, Beck SMB & Boxall JB (2013) Transient source localisation methodology and laboratory validation. 12th International Conference on Computing and Control for the Water Industry, Perugia, Italy. Perugia, Italy
  • Fox S, Shepherd WJ, Collins R & Boxall J (2013) . Procedia Engineering(70) (pp 668-677). Perugia, Italy, 2 September 2013 - 4 September 2013.
  • Fox S, Boxall J & Collins R (2012) Time dependent area of leaks in MDPE pipes during transient events. Bhr Group 11th International Conferences on Pressure Surges (pp 113-125)
  • Fish K, Collins R, Sharpe R, Osborn AM & Boxall JB (2012) The structure and stability of drinking water biofilms. 14th Water Distribution Systems Analysis Conference 2012 Wdsa 2012, Vol. 1 (pp 455-467)
  • Hampson WJ, Collins R, Boxall JB & Beck SBM (2012) Onset detection of transient waves using a novel experimental data set. Bhr Group 11th International Conferences on Pressure Surges (pp 707-720)
  • Collins R, Fox S, Beck S, Saul A & Boxall J (2012) 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)
  • Collins S, Beck SBM & Boxall JB (2011) Intrusion into water distribution systems through leaks and orifices: Initial experimental results. 11th Computing and Control in the Water Industry 2011. Exeter
  • Collins R, Besner MC, Beck S, Karney B & Boxall JB (2010) Intrusion modelling and the effect of groundwater conditions. 11th Annual International Symposium on Water Distribution Systems Analysis. Arizona, USA
  • John E, Boxall J, Collins R & Bowman E () . Proceedings of the 21st Computing and Control in the Water Industry Conference, 1 September 2025 - 3 September 2025.
  • MacRorie MH, Speight VL, Weston SL, Price R & Collins RP () . 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.
  • John EDA, Boxall J, Collins R, Bowman E & Susmel L () . 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.
  • Collins R, Weston S & Boxall J ()

Reports

  • Barr AD, Speight V, Collins R, Rigby S & Tyas A (2018) Cratering associated with failure of pressurised water mains
  • Barr AD, Speight V, Collins R, Rigby S & Tyas A (2018) Literature review: cratering associated with failure of pressurised water mains

Software, code or databases

  • Barr AD & Collins R (2018) Crater size calculator (Cratering associated with failure of pressurised water mains).

Datasets

  • Weston S, Collins R & Boxall JB .

Other

  • Collins R () .
Research group

Water Distribution Systems and Infrastructure

Grants

Past Grants 

Grand Challenge for Water

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.

Datatecnics Phase 2

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.

Links

Water Engineering Discipline