Mechanics of Materials
Head of Division
Research Focus Areas
- Adhesion and adhesives
- Deformation and fracture of polymers and composites
- Metal forming and materials modelling
- Nanomaterials
- Soft solids
- Structural integrity
Research Activities
The aims of this Division are to understand how materials - metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, adhesives and even foods - behave, and how they fail in components subjected to a variety of loading conditions. Particularly strong current areas include light-weight vehicle technology, gas and water distribution infrastructure, new and established power-generation technology food technology and the defence sector. The Mechanics of Materials Division is one of the largest university research teams of its kind. An underlying theme to our work is to undertake novel experimental measurements, especially using the concepts of continuum fracture mechanics, and then to use these results to develop and validate analytical and numerical models of the failure process. Failures can occur by a number of mechanisms: fatigue loading, impact damage, corrosive environments or high-temperature creep. The Division has a very wide range of equipment for investigating these different modes of failure, and high-level computational facilities for the materials modelling activities. Most of the research is of direct practical relevance and appreciable industrial support is provided for specific projects.
Spin-outs
Thermal Barrier Coatings Ltd
