Alan G. Thomas (1927-2019) was an international authority on the mechanics of rubbery materials, in particular their

fracture mechanics Fracture mechanics is the field of mechanics concerned with the study of the propagation of cracks in materials. It uses methods of analytical solid mechanics to calculate the driving force on a crack and those of experimental solid mechanics t ...

properties. Along with Ronald S. Rivlin, he published the ''Rupture of Rubber'' series of articles, beginning in 1953. He was the first to apply Griffith's energy release rate criterion to the analysis of rubber's strength and fatigue behavior. Thomas attend Brasenose College, Oxford to study physics, graduating in 1948. He then accepted a position at the British Rubber Producer's Research Association. His research director was Dr Ronald S. Rivlin, who suggested that he study the strength of rubber. He developed the theories of strength and crack growth in rubber, starting from the work of

Alan Arnold Griffith Alan Arnold Griffith (13 June 1893 – 13 October 1963) was an English engineer and the son of Victorian science fiction writer George Griffith. Among many other contributions, he is best known for his work on stress and fracture in metals that ...

. He demonstrated that Griffith's

strain energy release rate In fracture mechanics, the energy release rate, G, is the rate at which energy is transformed as a material undergoes fracture. Mathematically, the energy release rate is expressed as the decrease in total potential energy per increase in fracture ...

provided a useful way to characterize the conditions at a crack tip, a problem that previously had been thought intractable due to the finite straining and nonlinearly elastic stress-strain behavior of rubber. Thomas has been recognised with many prizes and medals. Most notable of these are the 1978

Colwyn medal Colwyn may refer to: Wales * Colwyn Bay – town in north Wales ** Bay of Colwyn Town Council – town council in north Wales * Colwyn (district) – former district and borough in north Wales ** Colwyn Borough Council – former council in north W ...

of the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining and the 1994

Charles Goodyear Medal The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society#Organization, American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, ...

of the American Chemical Society. His employers MRPRA, received the Prince Philip award in 1990 for his pioneering work on earthquake bearings. He was a visiting professor in the Materials Department at

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

since 1975. Prof Alan Thomas died in his sleep on 23 April 2019.

References

External links

QMUL website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Alan G. British materials scientists Polymer scientists and engineers 1927 births 2019 deaths Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford