Dr Matthew Blacklock

Assistant Professor

Department: Mechanical and Construction Engineering

Matthew completed a MEng in Aerospace Engineering at The University of Manchester in 2006. He went on to study a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the same institution, completing in 2010. Matthew then joined the Materials Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, where he worked as part of the National Hypersonic Science Center. Matthew then took the position of Research Fellow at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

Matthew joined Northumbria University in 2017 and works as a Senior Lecturer in the department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering. He specialises in the mechanics of composite materials with an emphasis on advanced computational methods. Matthew is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has a keen interest in engineering education research with a focus on blended learning and the development of tools to aid in feedback for students.

Campus Address

Wynne Jones 302

Email Matthew

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

The overarching theme of my research is the mechanics of composite materials with an emphasis on advanced computational methods. This work spans the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and Materials Science disciplines. More specifically, research topics include the thermo-mechanical behaviour of ceramic matrix composites, statistical characterisation and regeneration of woven composite specimens, and the prediction of damage in textile composites.

My current research focus attempts to transfer my skills and expertise in woven textile composites to the field of additive manufacturing. 3D printed continuous fiber-reinforced composites are an emerging material that have the potential to transform the composites industry. The barrier to realising these benefits is a robust modelling approach that is both fast and accurate. The aim of my research is to develop a suite of modelling tools to enable the design of the underlying material architecture to optimise performance of structures based on operational requirements.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Characterisation of print path deviation in material extrusion, Blacklock, M., Sherugar, S., Birkett, M. 1 Aug 2024, In: Progress in Additive Manufacturing
Characterisation of Print Path Deviation in 3D Printed Continuous Carbon Fibre Composites, Sherugar, S., Birkett, M., Blacklock, M. Aug 2023, Proceedings of the 2023 International Conference on Composite Materials, Belfast, Queens's University Belfast
A Numerical and Experimental Study of Adhesively-Bonded Polyethylene Pipelines, Guilpin, A., Franciere, G., Barton, L., Blacklock, M., Birkett, M. 19 Sep 2019, In: Polymers
A cohesive network approach for modelling fibre and matrix damage in composite laminates, Joosten, M., Yang, Q., Blacklock, M., Wang, C. 15 Dec 2018, In: Composite Structures
Comparative assessment of the explosive blast performance of carbon and glass fibre-polymer composites used in naval ship structures, Gargano, A., Pingkarawat, K., Blacklock, M., Pickerd, V., Mouritz, A. 1 Jul 2017, In: Composite Structures
Effects of stochastic tow waviness on stiffness and strength of plain-weave ceramic matrix composites, Chen, M., Blacklock, M., Zhang, D., Gong, J. 23 Aug 2017, In: Advances in Mechanical Engineering
Hybrid cork-polymer composites for improved structural damping performance, Blacklock, M., St John, N., Varley, R., Wang, C. 30 Jun 2016, ECCM 2016 - Proceeding of the 17th European Conference on Composite Materials, European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM
Prediction of mode I delamination resistance of z-pinned laminates using the embedded finite element technique, Blacklock, M., Joosten, M., Pingkarawat, K., Mouritz, A. 1 Dec 2016, In: Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing
Virtual specimens for analyzing strain distributions in textile ceramic composites, Blacklock, M., Shaw, J., Zok, F., Cox, B. 1 Jun 2016, In: Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing
Efficient finite element modelling of Z-pin reinforced composites using the binary model, Blacklock, M., Joosten, M., Zeineddine, A., Mouritz, A. 2015, 20th International Conference on Composite Materials, ICCM 2015

Qualifications

Mechanical Engineering PhD June 30 2010

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