Associate Professor Piaras Kelly

BSc, DPhil

Associate Dean -PGrad Research

In: Faculty of Engineering Administration » Faculty of Engineering

Biography

Piaras completed a BSc in Mathematical Physics at University College, Dublin (1987), majoring in numerical analysis. He obtained a PhD (DPhil) from the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford (1993), carrying out a theoretical study of the strength of components made of bonded dissimilar materials.

In 1995, he joined the Oxford Orthopaedic Engineering Centre at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Hospital, UK, to study failure of knee prostheses and damage to human articular cartilage. During this period, he co-authored the book “Solution to Crack Problems” which was based on techniques developed in the preceding years. He re-joined the Solid Mechanics group at Oxford as a Research Fellow, carrying out work on the development of plasticity around propagating cracks.

Piaras joined the Department of Engineering Science at The University of Auckland as a lecturer in 1999. Since then, amongst other things, he has worked on the constitutive modelling of fibrous materials and the mathematical modelling of composite materials manufacturing processes. He has over 80 publications in the fields of Composite Materials, Textile Mechanics, Biomechanics, Geomechanics and Fracture Mechanics.

Qualifications

DPhil in Engineering, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
BSc in Mathematical Physics, University College Dublin, Ireland

Research | Current

Thermomechanical modelling of materials
Mathematical modelling and computational techniques for manufacturing processes, in particular for the manufacture of high performance composite materials
Fracture and failure of knee prostheses
Causes and development of osteoarthritis in the human knee
Geomechanics

Research groups

Solid Mechanics Research Group
Liquid Composite Moulding Research Group

Teaching | Current

ENGSCI 313 - Mathematical Modelling 3ECE
ENGSCI 740 - Advanced Continuum Mechanics
ENGSCI 753 - Computational Techniques in Continuum Mechanics and Bioengineering

Postgraduate supervision

Elinor Swery (PhD): Numerical Prediction of Fibre Preform Permeability for Enhanced Process Modelling of Advanced Composite Structures

Daniel Quach (PhD): Composites Manufacturing – Textile Compaction Modelling

Gregory Furtado (PhD): Investigation of a new Knee Prosthesis Design

Sabri Mohd (PhD): Investigation of a new Knee Prosthesis design

Ahmed Marghani (PhD): Flexible Pavement Analysis by using Finite Element Methods with respecting to more accurate circumstances regarding Highway Geometry

Aravind Jayasankar (ME): Design and validation of attachments for a novel knee implant

Areas of expertise

Mechanics of Fibrous Materials
Composite Materials Manufacturing
Mechanics of Osteoarthritis in the Human Knee Joint
Development of Knee Prostheses

Selected publications and creative works (Research Outputs)

Wilson, A., Kelly, P. A., Quenneville, P. J. H., & Ingham, J. M. (2014). Nonlinear In-Plane Deformation Mechanics of Timber Floor Diaphragms in Unreinforced Masonry Buildings. Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 140 (4)10.1061/(ASCE)EM.1943-7889.0000694
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/26961
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Jason Ingham, Pierre Quenneville
Gupta, A., Kelly, P. A., Ehrgott, M., & Bickerton, S. (2013). A surrogate model based evolutionary game-theoretic approach for optimizing non-isothermal compression RTM processes. Composites Science and Technology, 84, 92-100. 10.1016/j.compscitech.2013.05.012
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/24036
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Simon Bickerton
Gupta, A., Kelly, P. A., Bickerton, S., & Walbran, W. A. (2012). Simulating the effect of temperature elevation on clamping force requirements during rigid-tool Liquid Composite Moulding processes. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 43 (12), 2221-2229. 10.1016/j.compositesa.2012.08.003
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/26960
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Simon Bickerton
Kelly, P. A. (2011). Transverse compression properties of composite reinforcements. In P. Boisse (Ed.) Composite Reinforcements for Optimum Performance (pp. 333-366). Woodhead Pub Ltd.
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/15943
Kelly, P. A. (2011). A viscoelastic model for the compaction of fibrous materials. Journal of the Textile Institute, 102 (8), 689-699. 10.1080/00405000.2010.515103
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/17014