Contact Dr Richard Critchley
- Email: r.critchley@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
Areas of expertise
- Armour systems
- Structures and Materials
- Vehicle Engineering & Mobility
Background
Dr Richard Critchley is a lecturer in force protection and blast engineering at Cranfield University who previously worked as a lecturer in mechanical engineering at the University of the West of England and a project engineer in industry for an SME. Dr Critchley is the holder of a PhD in mechanical engineering from Southampton University, which focused on bioinspired technologies for mitigating behind armour blunt trauma. Dr Critchley is a subject matter expert in the field of force protection and blast engineering and is a chartered member of the IMechE. Dr Critchley has extensive experience of teaching all levels of higher education and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority. Dr Critchley has supervised over 50 students at all levels of higher education in research topics including natural fibres for ballistic protection, novel infills for helmets and 3D printing of novel lattice structures for blast mitigation. Dr Critchley has authored numerous papers in his academic career in areas including blast mitigation, auxetic materials and impact mechanics. He is a member of the WEPL (Weapons, Explosives, Protection and Law) research group within Cranfield Forensics Institute part of Cranfield Defence and Security (CDS) and collaborates with several defence partners.
Current activities
Richard is primarily responsible for teaching Royal Engineers Force Protection Engineering Course that explores the fundamental theory that underpins security engineering. He is also the module leader for Munitions Target Response and Explosives Effects on Structure, which explore the mechanisms by which different armour materials and structures withstand a variety of blast and ballistic threats. Richard has a number of different research interest including:
Auxetic Materials
Porous Materials
Blast effects (Structures, Vehicles and People)
Force Protection
Impact Mechanics
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Read J, Hazael R & Critchley R (2022) Soft tissue simulants for survivability assessment—a sustainability focussed review, Applied Sciences, 12 (10) Article No. 4954.
- Malbon C, Knock C, Critchley R & Carr DJ (2021) The effect of underwired and sports bras on breast shape, key anthropometric dimensions, and body armour comfort, Police Journal, Available online 23 April 2021.
- Arifurrahman F, Critchley R & Horsfall I (2021) Experimental and numerical study of auxetic sandwich panels on 160 grams of PE4 blast loading, Journal of Sandwich Structures and Materials, 23 (8) 3902-3931.
- Thawani B, Hazael R & Critchley R (2021) Numerical modelling study of a modified sandbag system for ballistic protection, Journal of Computational Science, 53 (July) Article No. 101403.
- Critchley R, Hazael R, Bhatti K, Wood D, Peare A, Johnson S & Temple T (2021) Blast mitigation using polymeric 3D printed auxetic lattice structures - a preliminary study, International Journal of Protective Structures, Available online 18 October 2021.
- Bloodworth-Race S, Critchley R, Peare A, Hazael R & Temple T (2021) Testing the blast response of foam inserts for helmets, Heliyon, 7 (5) Article No. e06990.
- May B, Critchley R, Carr D, Peare A & Dowen K (2020) Ballistic protective properties of materials representative of English civil war buff-coats and clothing, International Journal of Legal Medicine, 134 (5) 1949-1956.
- Rao P, Painter J, Appleby-Thomas G, Critchley R, Wood D, Roberts & Hazael R (2020) Fragmentation studies by non-explosive cylinder expansion technique, International Journal of Impact Engineering, 146 (December) Article No. 103714.
- Critchley R, Smy V, Corni I, Wharton J, Walsh F, Wood R & Stokes K (2020) Experimental and computation assessment of thermomechanical effects during auxetic foam fabrication, Scientific Reports, 10 (1) Article No. 18301. Dataset/s: 10.17862/cranfield.rd.13186745.v1
- Malbon C, Knock C, Critchley R & Carr DJ (2020) The effect of breast size and bra type on comfort for UK female police officers wearing body armour, Applied Ergonomics, 84 (April) Article No. 103012. Dataset/s: 10.17862/cranfield.rd.10059434.
- da Silva LA, Johnson S, Critchley R, Clements J, Norris K & Stennett C (2020) Experimental fragmentation of pipe bombs with varying case thickness, Forensic Science International, 306 (January) Article No. 110034.
- Stevenson T, Carr DJ, Harrison K, Critchley R, Gibb IE & Stapley SA (2020) Ballistic research techniques: visualizing gunshot wounding patterns, International Journal of Legal Medicine, 134 (3) 1103-1114.
- Bockmuehl CR, Tomkins N, Keiding J, Critchley R, Peare A & Carr DJ (2019) Woven fabrics in book conservation: an investigation into the properties of aerolinen and aerocotton, Studies in Conservation, 65 (7) 375-387.
- Critchley R, Standbridge K & Peare A (2019) The effects of crossbow impacts onto a common automotive vehicle side window – a preliminary study, International Journal of Legal Medicine, 134 (4) 1395-1401.
- Dodd S, Malbon C, Critchley R, Lankester C, O’Rourke S, Corke T & Carr DJ (2018) Effects of salt water on the ballistic protective performance of bullet-resistant body armour, Police Journal, 92 (3) 264-273.
- Critchley R, Peare A & Sheldon R (2018) Scaled simulation of the blast effects on structures using lego blocks: a pilot study, Explosives Engineering, December 2018 26-28.
- Critchley R, Corni I, Wharton JA, Walsh FC, Wood RJK & Stokes KR (2013) The Preparation of Auxetic Foams by Three-Dimensional Printing and Their Characteristics, Advanced Engineering Materials, 15 (10) 980-985.
- Critchley R, Corni I, Wharton JA, Walsh FC, Wood RJK & Stokes KR (2013) A review of the manufacture, mechanical properties and potential applications of auxetic foams, Physica Status Solidi B, 250 (10) 1963-1982.
Conference Papers
- Critchley & R (2018) An Investigation into the Blast Effects on Civilian Personnel Protective Armour. In: GEMS 2018, Defence Academy, Shrivenham, 31 January - 1 February 2018.
