Structural Impact Courses

Professor Norman Jones and Dr Graham Schleyer from the University of Liverpool, Department of Engineering recently presented two back-to-back short courses on impact and blast resistant design methods at the Wessex Institute of Technology. These courses were designed to equip professional engineers and researchers with the tools and methods to analyse and better understand problems in industry associated with large dynamic loads produced by a variety of sources, typically structural impact and explosions. The first course was aimed at introducing the fundamental concepts, principles and simplified methods of analysis.  The second expanded a little on the content of the first but mainly explored the treatment of more complex structural systems.  Practical design examples and case studies were used throughout with reference to commonly used design manuals and codes of practice.  The material presented applied to structural crashworthiness, explosion mitigation, hazards evaluation and safety calculations throughout the civil, mechanical, nuclear, transportation, petrochemical and process industries.

The courses were fully subscribed with participants from as far as Brazil, Canada and Malaysia with the majority from Europe. The participants’ background covered security, military, civilian, composites, and impact and blast modelling applications.

The presenters are internationally recognised and accomplished in their field with experience in research and teaching over many years. Professor Norman Jones FREng, recently retired as AA Griffith Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Impact Research Centre at the University of Liverpool, has conducted theoretical, numerical and experimental studies over the past 40 years into the dynamic behaviour of structures and systems.  His distinguished career and wealth of knowledge and experience is captured in some 300 journal articles, and his book ‘Structural Impact’ which is used on the course.  Dr Schleyer is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Engineering and a member of the Impact Research Centre at the University of Liverpool, having worked previously for several years in the gas industry and for shorter periods with leading research and technology companies in the UK and the US.  He has published widely in journals, conference proceedings, government and industry reports, and is secretary of the UK Explosion Liaison Group (UKELG), a specialist subject interest group of experts from industry and academia promoting the understanding of all aspects of explosions.

The participants appreciated the breadth of application of the methods presented and the opportunity to interact with others on the course.  An announcement will be made shortly on the dates for the next course.