John Dear

John has been an academic for 34 years in the Mechanics of Materials Division of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Prior to joining Imperial in 1988, John was an SERC Research Fellow at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University where he did his first degree and PhD research with Professor John E. Field OBE FRS. John did his undergraduate and PhD study at St John's College, followed by the Hertha Ayrton Research Fellowship at Girton College, Cambridge.

John has been successful in obtaining research grants from the UK and US Government (EPSRC, ONR, MRC & DTI/TSB), European Commission, UK and overseas companies. His research expertise is structural integrity of materials including manufacturing and micro-structural effects. He is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Lightweight Materials and Manufacture. He has published over 400 journal and conference papers; contributed to 18 books, supervised 66 PhDs and 22 RAs. Examples include: impact performance of aerospace and automotive components, blast performance of laminated glass facades and composite structures, creep life of materials in power-station plant, water distribution plant and high-strain rate properties of polymers, composites and a wide range of other materials for defence applications and also for medical research.

John Dear and Hugh MacGillivray organised the "Impact Club Conference on Impact, High Strain Rate and Blast Research Related to Structural Integrity" on Wednesday 25th May 2011 in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College. For information on future courses, please click here.

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

• Irven G, Carolan D, Fergusson A, et al., 2023, Digital image correlation of cross-ply laminates in tension to reveal microcracking, Composite Structures, Vol:319, ISSN:0263-8223, Pages:1-12
• Rolfe E, Quinn R, Irven G, et al., 2023, Experimental investigation of the air blast performance of hybrid composite skinned sandwich panels with X-ray micro-CT damage assessment, Thin-Walled Structures, Vol:188, ISSN:0263-8231, Pages:1-17
• Ding Y, Liu J, Hall Z, et al., Damage and energy absorption behaviour of composite laminates under impact loading using different impactor geometries, Composite Structures, ISSN:0263-8223
• Kong X, Zhou H, Zheng C, et al., 2023, Dynamic response and failure behaviour of thermoplastic fibre metal laminates subjected to confined blast load, Thin-Walled Structures, Vol:187, ISSN:0263-8231, Pages:1-12
• Hall Z, Liu J, Brooks R, et al., 2023, Impact testing on the pristine and repaired composite materials for aerostructures, Applied Mechanics, Vol:4, ISSN:2673-3161, Pages:421-444
• Zhou J, Liu H, Dear JP, et al., 2023, Comparison of different quasi-static loading conditions of additively manufactured composite hexagonal and auxetic cellular structures, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, Vol:244, ISSN:0020-7403, Pages:1-16
• Liu H, Liu J, Hall ZEC, et al., 2023, Modelling the effects of patch-plug configuration on the impact performance of patch-repaired composite laminates, Composites Science and Technology, Vol:233, ISSN:0266-3538, Pages:1-22
• Tüfekci M, Özkal B, Maharaj C, et al., 2023, Strain-rate-dependent mechanics and impact performance of epoxy-based nanocomposites, Composites Science and Technology, Vol:233, ISSN:0266-3538, Pages:1-17
• Irven G, Carolan D, Fergusson A, et al., 2023, Fracture performance of fibre-reinforced epoxy foam, Composites Part B - Engineering, Vol:250, ISSN:1359-8368, Pages:1-12
• Samieian MA, Cormie D, Smith D, et al., 2022, A study on the bending of laminated glass under blast loading, Experimental Mechanics, Vol:63, ISSN:0014-4851, Pages:385-400