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Dr Giulio Alfano Dr Giulio Alfano
Email Dr Giulio Alfano Reader - Mechanical Engineering PGR Director
I am Reader in Computational Mechanics at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of Brunel University London, which I joined in 2006 as a lecturer. Between 2001 and 2006, I was a lecturer in 'Scienza delle Costruzioni' (i.e. Mechanics of Solids and Structures) at the University of University of Naples ‘Federico II’. The latter is also my Alma Mater, where I obtained my 5-year degree in Civil Engineering in 1994 and my PhD in Structural Engineering in 1997. Between 1998 and 2001, I was a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Department of Aeronautics of Imperial College London. In my research I am interested in modelling the behaviour of materials, solids and structures within and, more often, beyond their elastic limit, combining experimental methods with nonlinear numerical modelling. You can find more details here. The mechanics of solids and structures and its numerical modelling via linear and nonlinear finite element analysis are also the subjects of my teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Current interests include: Damage mechanics, fracture mechanics and cohesive-zone models, accounting for friction, plasticity, visco-elasticity, visco-plasticity and fatigue Rate-dependent failure of adhesive joints Composite delamination Nonlinear geomechanics Nonlinear modelling of concrete and reinforced concrete Multi-scale analysis of materials and structures Past interests include: Multi-scale numerical analysis of flexible risers Plastic buckling of metal structures Numerical and experimental analysis of lined pipes I am interested in modelling the behaviour of materials, solids and structures within and, more often, beyond their elastic limit, combining experimental methods with nonlinear numerical modelling. The latter include but is not limited to the development of nonlinear finite-element analysis. The applications have been quite wide-ranging and included the study of plasticity in metals, nonlinear behaviour of concrete and reinforced concrete, buckling of metal structures, composite delamination, debonding of adhesive joints, multi-scale analysis of flexible risers among others. On the other hand, the recurrent theme of my work is the application of fundamental principles and methods to study elastic and inelastic behaviour of solids and structures within a rigorous thermodynamic framework, accounting directly or indirectly for their behaviour and their hierarchical architecture at different scales. In the first decade or so of my research career, I was normally trying to answer the following type of research question: what is the the best way to find the solution of (well-posed) mathematical models that had already been developed by other researchers? At some point though, I realised that I am much more interested in this other type of question: what is the best mathematical model for a given problem? The latter requires interaction with the real world, understanding of the underlying physics, experimental testing and validation. Nevertheless, the former question cannot be avoided, because in order to test and validate a mathematical model one needs to make sure that the model is well posed and a solution can be found. This can be quite challenging and, like many other aspects of my research, it often requires a great amount collaboration with other colleagues. One area where I gained a certain recognition is the development of cohesive-zone models, which are a method to study crack formation and growth in solid or along structural interfaces. I started working in this field as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at Imperial College, studying the analysis of delamination of laminated composites under the supervision of late Prof. Mike Crisfield. I started using an existing model, developed by Prof Crisfield and his previous co-workers, which I only slightly modified and recast in the framework of damage mechanics. My main initial challenge was to get the implicit incremental solution procedure to converge. Since then, together with several collaborators I have developed other cohesive models that accounted for elasticity, damage, plasticity, viscoelasticity, viscoplasticity, friction, dilatancy and fatigue. My more recent interests include revisiting the methods of fracture mechanics applied to the case of ductile materials and nonlinear modelling of geomechanics problems. ME2614 - Solid Mechanics and Introduction to FEA (Year 2) ME5671-ME5691 - Advanced Solid Body Mechanics and FEA (Year 4 and MSc)

Members

Professor Hamid Bahai Professor Hamid Bahai
Email Professor Hamid Bahai Institute Director Materials & Manufacturing
Hamid Bahai received his PhD degree in 1993 in Computational Mechanics from Queen Mary College, University of London. Between 1993 and 1995 he worked as a Senior Research Engineer at T&N Technology where he was involved in research and development work on a number of projects for the automotive and aerospace industries. This was followed by a period at Halliburton Inc during which time he carried out design and analysis of a number of major offshore structures. In 1996 he moved to the aerospace industry by joining Astrium, an aerospace subsidiary of European Aeronautics Defence and Space company, where as a senior scientist, he played a leading role in conducting design, mathematical modelling and computational analysis of Euro3000 space craft structures and Ariane launcher / spacecraft adapter. It was during this period that he was made a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers for his technical contributions and services to the scientific and engineering communities. In 1998 he returned to academia and joined Brunel University as a lecturer. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2004, Reader in 2005 and Professor in Computational Mechanics in 2009. He has led a number of research projects covering a wide range of topics in the area of Computational Mechanics and has published over 140 papers on various themes in the field. In 2014 Hamid Bahai was appointed as the Head of the newly formed Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering at Brunel University London and in 2019 was appointed as the Director of Brunel’s Institute of Materials & Manufacturing. Hamid Bahai’s many theoretical and applied contributions include the development of a new type of non-linear shallow shell strain based finite element and a novel inverse eigenvalue formulation for optimising the vibratory behaviour of structures. His current research interests include development of non-linear finite element formulations and algorithms for fluid-solid interaction and multi-scale continuum-particle numerical simulations. He acted as principal investigator and the chair of government and industrial jointly funded consortiums to work on a high performance computational fluid-solid coupled structural analysis projects. The output of a number of analytical models developed by Hamid Bahai and his co-workers have now become international benchmarks in the scientific community and industry. He has conducted consulting work in the field of structural integrity for many UK and International companies and has given invited talks and courses the world over on various topics in structural computational mechanics. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Computational Mechanics. Hamid's current research interests include computational mechanics, fatigue and fracture mechanics, structural dynamics and development of non-linear finite element formulations and algorithms for fluid-solid interaction and multi-scale continuum-particle numerical simulations. Fundamentals of Solid Body Mechanics Finite Element Analysis Advanced Vibration Theory Numerical Methods Geometric Modelling Control Theory
Dr Bin Wang Dr Bin Wang Bin Wang graduated with BEng (1985) in Solid Mechanics from Xi’an Jiaotong University, MSc (1988) by research in Dynamics and PhD (1991) in Applied Mechanics, both from University of Manchester (formerly UMIST). He had been an academic staff member of Nanyany Technological University (Singapore), Deakin (Australia), Brunel, Manchester and Aberdeen University before returning to Brunel in July 2011. At Brunel he has held roles as the Chairperson of the Board of Study in Mechanical, Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Year 1 Tutor, Programme Director of MSc Structural Integrity, and now the Vice Dean Internatioanl of the College. Dr Wang’s expertise is in Applied Mechanics, including stress and strain analysis, dynamics and impact mechanics. He also conducts research in reliability and safety analysis with application in energy and medical areas. His research contributed to the British Energy’s R3 document on Impact Assessment of nuclear power plants. Under the title Shooting Cancers, his research also presented at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition (2004). Dr. Wang is also one of the inventors of a patented knee implant which is a leading product in the North American market. Structural response under impact Material behaviour under high strain rate loading Design of energy absorption systems Foams, cellulous and sandwich materials Biomaterials and surgical devices Nano scale materials Uncertainty, Reliability and Parametric Sensitivity Multi-physics phenomenon Dr. Wang has delivered a wide range of subjects in the subject area of Applied Mechanics at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including Strength of Materials, Vector Calculus, Vibration and Machine Dynamics, Plasticity, Mechanism and Design, Advanced Reliability Analysis, Fracture and Fatigue, etc. Current teaching modules: ME3062/ME3092 FEA, CFD and Design of Engineering Systems MN5561 Computer Aided Design 2
Dr Kevin Hughes Dr Kevin Hughes
Email Dr Kevin Hughes Senior Lecturer in Structural Integrity
Dr Kevin Hughes graduated from Cranfield University where he obtained an MSc in Astronautics and Space Engineering, prior to achieving his PhD in improving helicopter crashworthiness for impacts on water. Kevin has extensive experience in teaching (including development and delivery of new modules) at MSc / Continued Professional Development level, Operating as an MSc Course Director since 2005, Kevin achieved Senior Fellow status with the Higher Education Academy and has supervised over one hundred MSc industry supported dissertation projects to completion. Kevin's research interests are focused on the development of numerical simulation methods for non-linear structural analysis (including crashworthiness), which includes coupling finite element analysis to optimisation methods. Utilising high fidelity modelling of structures and materials has led to research colloborations within automotive, aerospace and rail sectors. Kevin’s research started with improving the level of crashworthiness for helicopters impacting onto hard and water surfaces through his PhD, which led to his interest in applying non-linear transient numerical simulation methods (mesh based and mesh free) to understand the response of structures and materials to a range of dynamic loading. Applications include the use of optimisation approaches to develop robust design solutions (by taking into account sources of uncertainty) for industrially sponsored research / EU collaborative projects. This led to Kevin’s involvement with a number of companies with challenging engineering problems, including Jaguar Landrover and Aston Martin related to car crashworthiness, failure assessment for Network Rail and led to a product to market by developing protection concepts for electronic devices in conjunction with Logitech (resulting in a US Patent). Non Linear Transient Finite Element Method Crashworthiness and Impact Response of Materials and Structures Analysis Led Design and Optimisation Prior to moving to Brunel University London, Kevin has been involved with post-graduate and CPD training since 2005 and is based around the application of non-linear numerical simulation methods and optimisation approaches to understand the response of structures and materials to dynamic loading, covering: Structural Mechanics / Stress Analysis Simulation for Impact and Crashworthiness (explicit FEA) Design of Automotive Integral Vehicle Structures Material Characterisation for Simulation Applied Finite Element Modelling (Static and Dynamic) Thin-Walled Structures Kevin leads strategic development of the off-campus MSc programmes delivered through NSIRC (National Structural Integrity Research Centre), located at Granta Park (near Cambridge) and is programme director: Structural Integrity (Asset Reliability Management) MSc and MScR programmes Lightweight Structures and Impact Engineering: MSc and MScR programmes Kevin also coordinates and delivers credit bearing engineering CPD courses to industry (see link opposite), providinga flexible route towards post-graduate qualifications (PgCert, PgDip, MSc and MSc by Research).
Dr Rui Ramos Cardoso Dr Rui Ramos Cardoso
Email Dr Rui Ramos Cardoso Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering
Modelling for Manufacturing Modelling for Additive Layer Manufacturing Modelling of Cold Spray Processes Development of Innovative Numerical Methods Computational Mechanics for Structural Analysis Finite Element Method Meshless Methods IsoGeometric Analysis with Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) Modelling of Plasticity Crystal Plasticity and Multi-Scale Modelling Modelling of Metal Forming Processes Fundamentals of Solid Body Mechanics Aerodynamics Aircraft Design Aircraft Structures
Dr Marius Gintalas Dr Marius Gintalas
Email Dr Marius Gintalas Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering
Dr Marius Gintalas obtained his doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering studying fracture toughness measurement methods under impact load. He continued research in fracture mechanics field on crack tip constraint in specimens and large scale pipes as a postdoctoral research associate at Manchester University. Later, Marius joined the University of Cambridge for his second postdoctoral project. He worked on characterisation of heavily plastically deformed martensitic carbon steel using transmission electron microscopy and synchrotron radiation. Also, analysed strengthening mechanisms in non-deformed and deformed quenched and tempered martensite. Marius joined The Welding Institute (TWI) Ltd as a senior project leader after postdoctoral period of five years. In 2020 returned to academia as a lecturer at Brunel University, National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC).
Professor Rade Vignjevic Professor Rade Vignjevic
Email Professor Rade Vignjevic Professor - Structural Integrity
Professor Rade Vignjevic joined Brunel from Cranfield University, where he was Head of the Applied Mechanics and Astronautics Department. His area of technical expertise includes nonlinear transient finite element method, SPH, impact mechanics, crashworthiness and structural integrity. Together with his research team, they have achieved international recognition for work on modelling the transient response of materials and structures, specifically meshless methods; impact and crashworthiness of aerospace structures; and shock waves and damage in metals and composites. Professor Vignjevic’s research interests over the last 25 years, have been focused on solids and structures under extreme loading and resulted in the output of over 70 journal papers. This includes the development of first principle-based simulation tools for analysis and the simulation based design (SBD) of structures including structural integrity, safety, crashworthiness and impact resistance. To be precise, Professor Vignjevic has been working on two important modelling aspects: i) development of improved constitutive models; and ii) improved spatial discretisation techniques. These two aspects combined are the key enablers for accurate modelling of progressive damage and failure in solids and structures. His research has contributed to the improvement of simulation tools applicable to range of industrial problems. Rade, his team and students have been working with a number of companies in dealing with challenging engineering problems. For instance bird strike on fan blades with Rolls Royce; aircraft (fixed wing and rotorcraft) ditching and crash worthiness with AIRBUS, Westland Helicopters and EUROCOPTER; modelling of shockwaves in solids with AWE; car crashworthiness with JLR, Aston Martin, Mercedes PETRONAS and Williams F1teams; and high velocity impact on composite structures with BAE Systems and AIRBUS. Finite element and meshless methods Material models for metals and composites Impact mechanics Crashworthiness and structural integrity Shockwaves in solids Professor Vignjevic, Dip.Ing. in Mechanical Engineering, MSc and PhD in Applied Mechanics, is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He was Head of the Department of Applied Mechanics and Head of the Crashworthiness Impact and Structural Mechanics Group at Cranfield University and has over twenty five years of experience in postgraduate teaching, training and supervision of Masters and PhD students. At Cranfield University he delivered a number of modules including: Finite Element Method Impact Dynamics Continuum Mechanics Rade continues to contribute to teaching in the MSc Structural Integrity Course based at NSIRC, Granta Park and his current teaching modules include: Numerical Modelling of Solids and Structures Continuum mechanics (next academic year)
Professor Tadeusz Stolarski Professor Tadeusz Stolarski Academic Career 1970 - MSc, Technical University of Gdansk, Poland 1975 - PhD, Technical University of Gdansk, Poland 1979 - DIC, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London 1981 - DSc(Eng), Technical university of Cracow, Poland 1993 - Titular Professor, (Title conferred by the President of Poland) Industrial Career 1970 - 1971, Design Engineer for Deck Lifting Equipment, Gdansk Shipyard.