Professor Patrick Fairclough

School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering

Professor of Polymer and Composite Engineering

Photo of Patrick Fairclough
Profile picture of Photo of Patrick Fairclough
p.fairclough@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7798

Full contact details

Professor Patrick Fairclough
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Sir Frederick Mappin Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Profile

Professor Fairclough completed a BSc in Physics at the University of Birmingham in 1990 and then a PhD in Neutron Scattering graduating in 1995.

A postdoc in polymer science took him to UMIST in Manchester in 1994 (after briefly working as a service engineer) and the postdoc lasted until 1997 when he was recruited to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Sheffield.

In 2013 he took up the chair position in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Research interests

Patrick's research covers a wide variety of polymers, soft materials and composite systems and his research spans the fundamentals of the network structure of epoxy resins, as used in protective coatings, to novel mould-free manufacturing of carbon fibre composites.

The current research group has projects including mould-free manufacturing, fibre splicing and tailored fibre placement. The mould-free work uses carbon black to create a conductive carbon composite that can be electrically cured and in the future can be developed to allow for the direct creation of composite parts from software without the use of conventional “tooling”.

The group also work on projects looking at thermoplastic composite materials and, in particular, systems that can be hydrolysed back to monomer species. The hydrolysis process takes place at high pressures and temperatures but with water as a solvent for the material. The group are working to develop this as a way of reusing recycled polymers, PET fibres from old bottles for example, to create recyclable structures.

They have had a long-standing interest in structural colour from using block copolymer mixtures as an easy way to create structural colour, to creating environmentally friendly replacements for TiO2. This work led them to study white beetle scales and to create a full 3D tomographic map of the scale by the use of synchrotron radiation at the ESRF in Grenoble France.
 

Publications

Journal articles

Chapters

Conference proceedings papers

  • Sun G, Mitchell R, Chen Z, Omrani F, Smith M, Fairclough JPA & Pinna C (2023) 3D characterisation of the tensile failure of CFRPS manufactured through tailored fibre placement. Proceedings of the 2023 International Conference on Composite Materials. Belfast, United Kingdom, 30 July 2023 - 30 July 2023. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
  • Fairclough P, Cedeno-Campos VM, Jaramillo PA, Fernyhough CM, Tang Y, Leach J, Fidel B, Baker G & Webster D (2023) Incremental Forming of Composites: A Mould Free Future. ICCM International Conferences on Composite Materials RIS download Bibtex download
  • Cedeno-Campos VM, Jaramillo PA, Fernyhough CM & Fairclough JPA (2019) Online non-intrusive curing identification of CFRP assisted by pattern recognition with a novel in-situ curing apparatus. 2019 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics (SMC), 6 October 2019 - 9 October 2019. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Cedeno-Campos VM, Jaramillo PA, Fernyhough CM & Fairclough JPA (2019) Towards mold-free composites. A novel control method to cure carbon fiber through punctual force. 2019 24th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA), 10 September 2019 - 13 September 2019. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mroz A, Spain S & Fairclough P (2019) Synthesis and analysis of photodegradable polyurethanes with poly (propylene glycol) and nitro-benzene derivatives. ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, Vol. 258 RIS download Bibtex download
  • Khalil Y, Hopkinson N, Kowalski A & Fairclough JPA (2016) Influence of laser power on morphology and properties of laser-sintered UHMWPE. Solid Freeform Fabrication 2016: Proceedings of the 27th Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium - An Additive Manufacturing Conference, SFF 2016 (pp 814-833) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Mykhaylyk OO, Chambon P, Graham RS, Fairclough JPA, Olmsted PD & Ryan AJ (2008) The specific work of flow as a universal parameter to control the formation of shish-kebab morphology in polymers. XVTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON RHEOLOGY - THE SOCIETY OF RHEOLOGY 80TH ANNUAL MEETING, PTS 1 AND 2, Vol. 1027 (pp 496-498) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Fairclough JPA, Tzokova N & Fernyhough CM (2005) Opalescent coatings from block copolymers: Enhanced refractive index and curing. ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, Vol. 230 (pp U3610-U3610) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Norman AI, Fairclough JPA, Mai S & Ryan AJ (2004) Poly(oxyalkylene) block copolymers in aqueous solution - Phase behavior and transition kinetics. JOURNAL OF MACROMOLECULAR SCIENCE-PHYSICS, Vol. B43(1) (pp 71-93) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Xu JT, Fairclough JPA, Mai SM & Ryan AJ (2003) The effect of architecture on the morphology and crystallization of oxyethylene/oxybutylene block copolymers from micelles in n-hexane. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY, Vol. 13(11) (pp 2740-2748) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Pokric B, Allinson NM, Ryan AJ, Fairclough P, Dobson BR, Derbyshire GE, Helsby W, Long G & Moon K (2002) A double area detector system for simultaneous small and wide-angle X-ray scattering. NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH SECTION A-ACCELERATORS SPECTROMETERS DETECTORS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT, Vol. 477(1-3) (pp 329-334) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Corvazier L, Messe L, Salou CLO, Young RN, Fairclough JPA & Ryan AJ (2001) Lamellar phases and microemulsions in model ternary blends containing amphiphilic block copolymers. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY, Vol. 11(11) (pp 2864-2874) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ryan AJ, Terrill NJ & Fairclough JPA (2000) A scattering study of nucleation phenomena in homopolymer melts. SCATTERING FROM POLYMERS, Vol. 739 (pp 201-217) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Fairclough JPA, Ross DK & Bennington SM (1993) Diffuse Neutron Scattering from Yttrium Hydride*. Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie, Vol. 179(Part_1_2) (pp 281-287) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Fairclough P, Manoli S & Holland C () Natural Material Short Fibre Composites via Additive Manufacturing. Proceedings of the 4th World Congress on Mechanical, Chemical, and Material Engineering, 16 August 2018 - 18 August 2018. RIS download Bibtex download

Patents

  • Fairclough JP () Copolymer Blends, Light Reflective Films Comprising the Same and Methods for their preparation and use. GB1013274.4 Appl. 01 Jan 1970. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Fairclough JP () SELF-ASSEMBLING BLOCK COPOLYMER FILM. GB 0506362.3 Appl. 01 Jan 1970. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Fairclough JP () Film composites. 2000-GB1156; 2000058760 Appl. 01 Jan 1970. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Fairclough JP () Kit of block copolymers exhibiting temperature-dependent adhesion and release properties. GB3870, 2002020688 Appl. 01 Jan 1970. RIS download Bibtex download
Grants
  • Soft Nanotechnology November 2007 to October 2012; £796,000 with Prof. Richard A. L. Jones (Pl), Prof. Anthony J. Ryan, Prof. Mark Geoghegan, Prof. David Lidzey
  • EPSRC KTA KickStart Funding Biologics October 2011 to June 2012, £1116,000 with Prof. Richard Ross, Prof. Nigel Clark, and Prof. Peter Artumuik
  • The Effects of Poilydispersity on Self Assembly in Block Copolymers: February 2007 to October 2010 £254,000 with Prof. Sebastien Perrier (Sydney), Prof Mark Matsen (Reading)
  • The Microscale Polymer Procesing Consortium for Macromolecular Engineering (MuPP ii): Toolbox Development and Application March 2005 - March 2009 £815,000 Prof. Anthony J. Ryan, Dr Ellen Heeley collaboration as part of the larger MuPP ii grant with Prof. Tom C. B. McLeish (Pl), Dr R. Alan Duckett, Dr Oliver G. Harlen, Prof. Peter Hine, Prof. Pete Jimack, Prof. Alexei Likhtman, Dr Helen J Wilson, Prof. Phil D. Coates, Prof. Malcolm Mackley, Dr Lian R. Hutchings, Dr Nigel Clarke, Prof. C Paul Buckley
  • Accelerated Discovery for New Organic Semiconductors November 2004 to October 2007, £234,000 Prof. Mick Turner and Dr Martin Grell
Teaching interests
  • MEC132: Matter Flow and Energy (Thermofluids)
  • MEC406:: Engineering Composite Materials (Solids)