Materials development and processing

Expertise within materials development and processing

MEMARC's staff conducts research into materials development, as well as biological systems and sports engineering.

Materials development

Research activities within materials development include:

  • Developments of welded hard facings with improved wear and corrosion resistance through the use of RE elements and oxides
  • Development of rubbers and foams for packaging and gasket
  • Negative Poisson’s ratio materials, nanocomposites and cutting tool materials
  • Developments of new materials characterisation methods, inverse modelling for material properties identification based miniature samples and in situ tests
  • Processing methods, including: experimental and numerical modelling of welding of ferrous and nonferrous materials, spot welding of advanced steels, micro spot welding of sensors, material deformation in a machining process and cutting tool developments

The work in these areas have been supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, as well as industrial sponsors. The researcher’s work has also been aided by MEMARC’s modern materials testing and processing lab, which is able to provide expert support in materials design, characterization, testing and modelling.

Several PhD students have completed their studies within materials development. In addition to this, a paper which was worked on by both a PhD student and MEMARC’s research staff, was awarded the 2013 AWS A. F. Davis Silver Medal Award from the American Welding Society. The paper was titled “Effect of Titanium Content on Microstructure and Wear Resistance of Fe-Cr-C Hardfacing Layers” and appeared in the Welding Journal.

Mechanics of biological systems and sports engineering

Researchers conducting work into the mechanics of biological systems and sports engineering use their findings to guide product development. The main research areas include:

  • Development of novel methods to measure the mechanical properties of biological materials (for example, human skins, heel pad) in vivo and changes brought about by treatments
  • Development of fatigue testing of shoulder and joints (Machine design and modelling)
  • Numerical modelling of the mechanics of human pelvic systems and developing non-rigid image registration program using FE modelling and optimization for prostate cancer treatment
  • Foot-shoe-equipment interaction under different landing positions and human movements and biomechanics led footwear developments

The work in these areas is supported by specialized materials testing, biomechanical tests and computational modelling. The research has received funding from a variety of sources including the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the National Health Service.

Researchers working within this specialist area have collaborated with staff from Liverpool John Moores University’s School of Sport and Exercise Science. Researchers have also collaborated with the National Health Service, footwear industries and colleagues in other institutions, including Ningbo University and the University of Oxford.

Work in this area has resulted in several successful PhD projects with candidates from sport, medical, computing or engineering backgrounds. One PhD student was awarded the Excellent Self-financed Student by the Chinese Education Council.

Our members

Learn more about our research members

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    Contact details

    Contact the fracture and contact mechanics specialists 

    If you’d like to ask a question or find out more about information about this specialist area, please contact the team using the details below.

    Director: Professor James Ren

    Email: x.j.ren@ljmu.ac.uk

    Call: 0151 231 2525

    Co-Director: Professor Dingli Yu

    Email: d.yu@ljmu.ac.uk

    Call: 0151 231 2360

    Address:
    School of Engineering
    Liverpool John Moores University
    James Parsons Building
    Byrom Street
    Liverpool
    UK
    L3 3AF