Applied and Computational Mechanics Group
Modelling techniques and computational methods for advanced engineering of materials, solids and structures.
The Applied and Computational Mechanics Group carries out internationally recognised research into mechanics of solids, structures and materials which can be applied to address current engineering research challenges.
Our major focus is the investigation of a wide range of composite materials (fibre reinforced, soft electroactive, nano-structured, cementitious) and the development of computational methods for multiscale modelling and optimisation of structures and micro-architectured materials.
We are currently carrying out a variety of research projects in the following areas.
Computational models for advanced smart materials
- Modelling of electro and magneto-active materials (actuation and energy harvesting).
- Modelling of advanced micro- and nano-structured materials.
- Modelling of cellular, porous, fibrous composite materials.
- Modelling the mechanical behaviour biological materials.
- Investigation of dynamic properties of quasicrystalline and quasiperiodic structures.
Computational models for advanced structures and meta-structures
- Advanced finite element methods for nonlinear and multiscale problems in solid and fluid mechanics
- Analysis and optimum design software for composite aerospace structures.
- Development of robust and reliable meta-modelling approaches for inverse problems and optimisation.
- Robust aircraft design optimisation.
- Uncertainty quantification and management (UQ&M) in engineering applications.
- Smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) for modelling flow of particulate composites.
- Meta-structures and cloaking of flexural waves.
- Vibration based damage detection in mechanical and aerospace structures.
- Fast dynamics computational methods for crash and impact analysis, material fracture and explosion modelling.
- Finite-element modelling of high performance fibre reinforced cementitious composites.
Our partners
We are currently working with the following partners:
Universities and research centres
- University of Bristol
- Swansea University
- University of Glasgow
- University of Liverpool
- Technion-Haifa
- University of California at S Barbara
- University of Luxembourg
- Polish Academy of Sciences
- University of Pisa
- University of Trento
- University of Copenhagen
- Umeå University
- Harbin Institute of Technology
- Tsinghua University
- Dalian University of Technology
- Shanghai Jiaotong University
- University of Waikato
Companies
- Airbus
- Cintec Ltd
Group Leader

Professor HaiJiang Li
Professor - Chair in BIM for Smart Engineering
- lih@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 5133