Current Research Projects

Impact Engineering

• Foreign Object Damage
• Fast crack growth in aircraft and aeroengine structures
• CRAHVI - Crashworthiness of Aircraft for High Velocity Impact
• IMPACT - Improved Failure Prediction for Advanced Crashworthiness of Transportation Vehicles
• Mathematical And Computational Modelling Of Shaped Charge Mechanics
• Aspects Of Aeroengine's Lightweight Fan Systems Design Involving Birdstrike
• Constitutive Modelling Of Deformation And Failure In Titanium Alloys Subjected To Impact Loading
• Development Of Inverse Modelling Methodology For Identification Of Non-measurable Constitutive Parameters
• Development Of Predictive Modelling Techniques For Evaluation Of Residual Stresses In Aeroengine Components Following Foreign Object Damage
• Development of experimental techniques for observation of response of metallic honeycomb materials to impact loading
• Development of predictive modelling methodology for hybrid (metallic/composite) materials subjected to impact loading
• Shard: Silk in High Rate Applications and Research into Damage Tolerance
• Low Rate
• Predictive modelling of failure in GFRP material (Funding: Rolls-Royce Plc)

Additional information can be found on the Impact Engineering Team pages

Fatigue and Fracture

• Crack Growth From Fastener Holes In Aircraft Structures
• Fretting Fatigue Avoidance In The Design Of Shaft Spline Connections
• Design Against Creep And Creep-fatigue Failure
• Fretting Fatigue and Fretting Wear
  
• Plasticity-induced Fatigue Crack Closure
• Friction

Plasticity and Visco-Plasticity

• Micro-mechanical Modelling Techniques for Forming Texture, Non-Proportionality and Failure in Auto Materials
• Micromechanical Modelling and Experimentation
• Texture Modelling in hcp Materials undergoing Large Deformation
• Fundamentals of Deformation: Slip, Slip Transfer, and Twinning
• Micro-mechanical Crystal Plasticity of Diffusion-bonded Ti Structures

Polymer Engineering

• Deformation of solid polymers with tailored molecular architectures
• Deformation of thermoplastic polyester and its nano-composites during forming processes
• Mechanical integrity of moulded Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene
• Development and validation of 3D mechanical models for tendons and ligaments
• Prediction of deformation in thermoplastic matrix composite materials
• Optimising performance of polyurethanes via control of chemical structure

Residual Stress

• Modelling and Prediction of Residual Stress
• Self-consistent Modelling And Diffraction Study Of BCC And HCP Polycrystals
• Internal Stress Evaluation Using Multiple Peak Laboratory X-ray Diffraction Analysis
• Strain Scanning For Engineering Applications Using Synchrotron X-ray Radiation

Structural Design and Assessment

• Indentation Of Coated Systems
• Design of coatings and coated systems
• Singularities  and Stress Analysis

Functional Materials

• Materials World Network - Domain Evolution in Ferroelectrics
  
• Optimisation of thin film memory devices
• Sensors and actuators: selection issues in engineering design
• Designing with single crystal piezoelectrics and  ferroelectrics

Micromechanical Modelling and Experimentation

• In situ investigation of microstructure under load