Biography
Dr Luke Blades was born in Banbury, just north of Oxford and raised in the nearby village of Greatworth. From 2010 to 2018 He completed his Undergraduate and Postgraduate Degrees at the University of Exeter, in mechanical engineering.
During his PhD, he developed an interest in damage mechanics and associated material testing, designing several experiments to determine the life of wearing components.
He currently works as a Post-doctoral research assistant in the solid mechanics group at Oxford, with a focus on experimental studies of fretting contacts.
Research Interests
Luke is interested in design and use of novel experiments which might expand the current understanding of damage mechanics in highly loaded contacts. In both his PhD and current Post-doctoral positions he has been funded by Rolls-Royce plc., so much of his work has involved matching the conditions of mechanical experiments to those in turbine engines.
His current projects focus on the experimental investigation of wear and fatigue in contacts which experience micron-order relative displacements.
Current Projects
Cornerstone (Rolls-Royce PLC)
A study of fretting fatigue in heavily loaded contacts in Aero-Engines.
Subsea Connector Fatigue (FMC / Equinor)
Experimental validation of contact mechanics based matching methods for lifing of fretting contacts in oil wellhead connectors.
