Dr Thomas Corden
MEng, PhD
Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre
Senior Technical Fellow
Full contact details
Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre
Factory of the Future, Advanced Manufacturing Park
Wallis Way, Catcliffe
Rotherham
S60 5TZ
- Profile
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Tom completed an undergraduate degree in Engineering at the University of Sheffield and was later awarded a PhD in Composite Materials from Nottingham University. He continued his career as a postdoctoral researcher at the same institution, researching bio-absorbable composite fracture fixation plates from 1996-1999.
Over the last 18 years, he has worked for companies including Umeco, Cytec, and Solvay. He currently works at the AMRC Composite Centre and is experienced in a vast range of composite materials and processing techniques. He has worked on numerous projects, including developing autoclave prepregs for aerospace; marine tooling; the building of America’s Cup yachts; ceramic matrix composites; double diaphragm forming; High Pressure Resin Transfer Moulding (HP-RTM); novel prepreg formats for rapid lay-up; and automation for high volume manufacture.
In the last 3 years, at Cytec/Solvay he was the applied R&D Manager, supervising a team working mainly on Out-of-Autoclave (OOA) prepreg technology and rapid manufacturing techniques for high volume automotive applications. His current work looks at high speed processing, automated forming, high volume manufacturing and design for the manufacture of composite materials.
- Qualifications
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MEng, PhD
- Research interests
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Tom’s research interests include: Composite Processing; Out of Autoclave Processing of Prepreg; Large Scale Composite Tooling; Additive Manufacture for Composites; Compression Moulding of Thermoset Prepregs; Composites for High Temperature Applications; Recycling of Composites
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Double Diaphragm Compression Moulding. Comparing Thermoset Prepreg with Dry Fabric and Liquid Resin. SAMPE journal. Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering.
- New prepregs for cost effective, out-of-autoclave tool and component manufacture. SAMPE Journal, 40(2), 30-34.
- Monomer transfer moulding and rapid prototyping methods for fibre reinforced thermoplastics for medical applications. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 32(7), 969-976.
- Physical and biocompatibility properties of poly-ε-caprolactone produced using in situ polymerisation: a novel manufacturing technique for long-fibre composite materials. Biomaterials, 21(7), 713-724.
- Initial development into a novel technique for manufacturing a long fibre thermoplastic bioabsorbable composite: in-situ polymerisation of poly-ϵ-caprolactone. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 30(6), 737-746.
- The mechanisms of interlaminar cracking in thick resin transfer moulded composite cylinders. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 29(4), 455-464.
Conference proceedings papers
- The development of out-of-autoclave composite prepreg technology for aerospace applications. 2011 SAMPE Spring Technical Conference and Exhibition, 23 May 2011 - 26 May 2011.
- Carbovar Nanovate-NV Surfaced Composite Tooling. SEICO11 Conference Proceedings, 28 March 2011 - 29 March 2011.
- Permeability Measurements and Modelling Techniques for Vacuum Infusion. ICAC 97, Conference Proceedings
- Double Diaphragm Compression Moulding. Comparing Thermoset Prepreg with Dry Fabric and Liquid Resin. SAMPE journal. Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering.
- Research group
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Composites
- Grants
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Tom has been involved in a number of research projects, spanning various TRL’s, during his time at the AMRC.