Dr James Campbell
Reader - Structural Integrity

Summary

 James Campbell BEng MSc PhD CEng FRAeS

Dr James Campbell is Reader in Structural Integrity, Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and Chartered Engineer. Dr Campbell’s primary research interest is numerical modelling of materials and structures during transient events such as impact and crash, with 15 years expertise leading research projects as Principal Investigator (PI) funded by the EU, Innovate UK, ESA, industry, academia and research organisations (UK and internationally).  Dr Campbell has more than 100 publications (43 peer-reviewed journal papers and over 60 conference papers/book chapters).

Areas of Expertise

• Numerical modelling of the transient response of materials and structures.
• Meshless methods, including Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH).
• Fundamental development of physical models and non-linear numerical methods (FE and SPH), through implementation and code development up to complex engineering analysis.
• Predictive analysis of lightweight structures, structural integrity and failure, Impact on spacecraft, fluid-structure interaction, impact on aircraft (birdstrike, ice, hard object), crashworthiness, fragmentation and shock loading.
• Characterisation and modelling of materials (metallic, composite, ceramic, polymer), from quasi-static loading through to high strain-rate behaviour and shock wave propagation.

Experience

Dr Campbell graduated from Imperial College London with a BEng in Aeronautical Engineering and Cranfield University with an MSc then PhD in Astronautics and Space Engineering. His PhD research developed numerical modelling of hypervelocity impact on spacecraft and the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method. This was followed by research on numerical modelling of shock waves at the Centre for Nonlinear Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA, for two years. He returned to Cranfield University as Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Computational Mechanics and Course Director of the Structures, Crashworthiness and Impact MSc.  Dr Campbell was then appointed as Head of the Crashworthiness, Impact and Structural Mechanics Group at Cranfield.

Awards

• Derek George Astridge Safety in Aerospace Award, IMechE, 2009.
• Royal Institute of Naval Architects Medal of Distinction, 2010.

Selected research projects

• Principal Investigator. Development of Advanced Material Modelling for Metal Additive Manufacturing (TWI/Lloyds Register Foundation).
• Principal Investigator. Basalt Fibre Reinforced HDPE for Wave Energy Converters
• Co-Investigator. Harpoon Impact Modelling
• Principal Investigator and Project Coordinator. Smart Aircraft in Emergency Situations (SMAES)
• Principal Investigator. Nonlinear Static Multiscale Analysis of Large Aerostructures (MUSCA)

Dr Campbell's expertise is applied to the aeronautics, space, defence, automotive, manufacturing, energy and offshore sectors. It is directly linked to teaching and supervision of PhD and Masters students and professional development programmes.