Dr Ahmad Baroutaji, Faculty of Science and Engineering

Ahmad is a lecturer, course leader, and active researcher in the School of Engineering at the University of Wolverhampton. He has extensive experience in teaching a variety of engineering topics for undergraduate and postgraduate students. His primary teaching interests include solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, Computer Aided Design (CAD), Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).

Before joining the University of Wolverhampton, Ahmad  held several post-doctoral research positions in which he developed exceptional research skills in various engineering fields and  published good number of papers in leading scientific journals and international conferences.

His engineering background is based on a diverse range of experience in applied and computational mechanics and his research activities have contributed significantly to the areas of structural crashworthiness, multi-objective optimisation design, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell technology, and modelling and simulation.

Ahmad is a regular reviewer for a number of leading engineering journals, including: Thin-Walled Structures (IF:2.829), Energy (IF:4.52), and Hydrogen Energy (IF:3.58). He is also a member of the international advisory committee for international conferences including, Sustainable Energy and Environmental Protection (SEEP) and Materials Science and Smart Materials (MSSM).

Crush and energy absorption behaviour of SLM manufactured thin-walled structure with a functionally graded thickness

Thin-walled structures have been widely employed in all types of vehicles to absorb the kinetic energy during a crash scenario and thus enhance the crashworthiness performance of the vehicle and protect the passengers.

In recent years, this field of engineering has started using new structures with unconventional shapes and materials. Tubes with graded thickness, or Functionally Graded Thickness (FGT) tubes, are among these new structures that are based on the concept of changing the material distribution within the structure to achieve better energy crashworthiness behaviour.

Aim

The main aim of this project is to design, analyse and optimise innovative functionally graded thickness tubes for crashworthiness applications.

Methodology

The crashworthiness capabilities of the new structures are evaluated numerically and experimentally. The structures are first manufactured and then crushed. Finite Element Method is also used to simulate the crushing and energy absorption responses. The predictions of the numerical results are validated by comparing them with experimental measurements. Parametric study is conducted to explore the effects of various factors on the performance of the new structures. Finally, Multi-Objective Optimisation Design (MOD) techniques are used to find the optimal shape of the FGT structures.

Outcome

The expected outcome of the project is to produce reliable design guidelines for a new-set of modern thin-walled structures that allow achieving better crashworthiness performance with less weight and thus helps in addressing some environmental impacts of using heavy structures without compromising on safety.