Solid Mechanics

Address

  • BS8 1TR

    United Kingdom

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Organization profile

Organisation profile

Solid mechanics is about understanding the way engineering materials respond to loading to improve the efficiency and safety of structures. The Solid Mechanics group has a long tradition of undertaking industrially motivated research which studies how materials behave when they are subjected to thermal and mechanical loads. The group has expertise in both metallic and non-metallic materials and undertakes research using advanced numerical and analytical methods, validated by experimental testing. A key motivation for this research is structural integrity assessment.

Within the broad area of solid mechanics, the main interests of the group are composite materials, adhesive joints, residual stress, non-destructive testing, fracture, fatigue and tribology. The Solid Mechanics group is the largest research group within the Department with eight members of academic staff. The group has formed a number of strong relationships with other UK Universities, Overseas Universities and industry.


Four-point bend test

Four-point bend test

Research areas

Fracture and fatigue

Failure of engineering components and structures as a result of fracture and fatigue is not an unusual event, even today. Research in this area in the Solid Mechanics group has concentrated on understanding the effects of mixed mode loading on fracture and on improving the accuracy of predictions of fatigue life.

Working closely with the aerospace and power industries, we aim to forward the understanding of the fracture and fatigue to allow more efficient and reliable use of metals. An extensive range of experimental facilities are available for fatigue and fracture testing. There are a wide range of servo-controlled hydraulic machines for static and cyclic strain testing, varying frequency fatigue and thermo-mechanical strain. There are also creep rigs, high pressure and temperature testing facilities and diffusion bonding machines. In addition, the group has extensive computing facilities to allow complex finite element analysis.

Residual stress

Projects

Over the past five years the group has had a sustained research portfolio of substantive projects from the following:

  • UK Science Council EPSRC (12)
  • European Commission (5)
  • European and North American Industrial companies (5)

Currently the group has six EPSRC, three EU-FP5 and five Industrial projects. This research effort has resulted in excess of a dozen PhDs, employed eight post docs and resulted in over 60 high quality journal publications and over 70 conference papers and presentations. More recently, the success has provided the impetus for developing projects supported substantially by industry and within the European Community, hence serving both UK and European strategic industrial requirements. We also play a role in underpinning strategic research requirements for the UK Ministry of Defence.

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Network

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