Dr Neil Sims
MEng, PhD, CEng, MIMechE
Reader
Departmental Director of Research
Deputy Director of Research and Innovation - Faculty of Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Sir Frederick Mappin Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
UK
Telephone: +44(0)114 222 7724
Fax: +44(0)114 222 7890
email : n.sims@sheffield.ac.uk
Profile
Dr Neil Sims is a reader in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sheffield. His first degree was in Mechanical Engineering, and after a year in industry he returned to Sheffield to study for a PhD. His research concerned the modelling and control of smart fluid dampers, and he has continued to develop his research interests in this area. From 2003 to 2008 he held an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship on the subject of chatter in high speed machining.
Research Interests
Smart fluids
• Modelling and design of smart fluid dampers
• Control and stability of smart fluid dampers
• Commercialisation of smart fluid dampers for consumer and industrial applications
• Research projects include the ADLAND project
Machining vibration:
• Methods for predicting and preventing chatter in high speed machining
• Active and passive vibration control during machining
• Research projects include the EPSRC research grants on chatter avoidance, and process damping
Uncertainty propagation:
• The role of uncertainty in structural dynamics problems
• Propagation techniques
• Application to smart materials and machining problems
• Application to modelling and design of energy harvesting systems
• Research funded by the EPSRC platform grant on Uncertainty Propagation in Structures, Systems and Processes
Research Projects
Adaptive Landing Gears for Improved Impact Absorption (ADLAND)
New Methods for Chatter Avoidance
Process Damping in Milling: Theory, Experiment, and Practical Solutions
Uncertainty Propagation in Structures, Systems and Processes
Mobile Energy Harvesting Systems
Selected Publications
- Fuzzy stability analysis of regenerative chatter in milling,
Sims, N. D., Manson, G., and Mann, B. (2009),
Journal of Sound and Vibration, In Press, Corrected Proof.
Online (journal subscription required)
Online (open access)
- Temperature Sensitive Controller Performance of MR Dampers,
Batterbee, D. and Sims, N. D. (2009),
Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, 20(3), pp. 297-309.
Online (journal subscription required)
Online (open access)
- Energy harvesting from the nonlinear oscillations of magnetic levitation,
Mann, B. P. and Sims, N. D. (2009),
Journal of Sound and Vibration, 319(1-2), pp. 515-530.
Online (journal subscription required)
Online (open access)
- Analytical prediction of chatter stability for variable pitch and variable helix milling tools,
Sims, N. D., Mann, B., and Huyanan, S. (2008),
Journal of Sound and Vibration, 317(3-5), pp. 664-686.
Online (journal subscription required)
Online (open access)
- Hardware-in-the-loop simulation of magnetorheological dampers for vehicle suspension systems,
Batterbee, D. C. and Sims, N. D. (2007),
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part I: Journal of Systems and Control Engineering, 221(2), pp. 265-278.
Online (journal subscription required)
Online (open access)
- Magnetorheological landing gear: 2. Validation using experimental data,
Batterbee, D. C., Sims, N. D., Stanway, R., and Rennison, M. (2007),
Smart Materials and Structures, 16(6), pp. 2441-2452.
Online (journal subscription required)
Online (open access)
- Magnetorheological landing gear: 1. A design methodology,
Batterbee, D. C., Sims, N. D., Stanway, R., and Wolejsza, Z. (2007),
Smart Materials and Structures, 16(6), pp. 2429-2440.
Online (journal subscription required)
Online (open access)
- Vibration Control Strategies for Proof-mass Actuators,
Huyanan, S. and Sims, N. D. (2007),
Journal of Vibration and Control, 13(12), pp. 1785-1806.
Online (journal subscription required)
- Vibration absorbers for chatter suppression: A new analytical tuning methodology,
Sims, N. D. (2007),
Journal of Sound and Vibration, 301(3-5), pp. 592-607.
Online (journal subscription required)
- Modelling of force-velocity hysteresis in smart fluid dampers,
Sims, N. D. and Stanway, R. (2007),
Journal of Sound and Vibration, 300(1-2), pp. 429-431.
Online (journal subscription required)
- Limit cycle behavior of smart fluid dampers under closed loop control,
Sims, N. D. (2006),
Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, Transactions of the ASME, 128(4), pp. 413-428.
Online (journal subscription required)
- Vibration isolation with smart fluid dampers: a benchmarking study,
Batterbee, D. C. and Sims, N. D. (2005),
Smart Structures and Systems, 1(3), pp. 235-256.
- Pipeline network features and leak detection by cross-correlation analysis of reflected waves,
Beck, S. B. M., Curren, M. D., Sims, N. D., and Stanway, R. (2005),
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 131(8), pp. 715-723.
Online (journal subscription required)
Online (open access)
- The self-excitation damping ratio: A chatter criterion for time-domain milling simulations,
Sims, N. D. (2005),
Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Transactions of the ASME, 127(3), pp. 433-445.
Online (journal subscription required)
- Piezoelectric sensors and actuators for milling tool stability lobes,
Sims, N. D., Bayly, P. V., and Young, K. A. (2005),
Journal of Sound and Vibration, 281(3-5), pp. 743-762.
Online (journal subscription required)
- Milling workpiece chatter avoidance using piezoelectric active damping: A feasibility study,
Zhang, Y. and Sims, N. D. (2005),
Smart Materials and Structures, 14(6).
Online (journal subscription required)
- A unified modelling and model updating procedure for electrorheological and magnetorheological vibration dampers,
Sims, N. D., Holmes, N. J., and Stanway, R. (2004),
Smart Materials and Structures, 13(1), pp. 100-121.
Online (journal subscription required)