Dr Joseph L Lanigan

MChem, PhD (MEng)

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Academic Fellow in Tribology

j.lanigan@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7735

Sir Frederick Mappin Building

Full contact details

Dr Joseph L Lanigan
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Sir Frederick Mappin Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD

Profile

Dr Lanigan became an Academic Fellow in Tribology in the Department in 2019 having previously held a postdoctoral research associate role within the same department.

He graduated from the University of Leeds in 2010 with an MChem in Chemistry. Joe then went on to undertake a PhD at Leeds in Mechanical Engineering, in the area of Tribology (2015). He then held a post as a Research Associate at Leeds, on a project sponsored by Statoil that focused on carbon nanotechnology for surface engineering.

Joe has also worked in industry at AkzoNobel in Gothenburg, Sweden. This was within the company’s R&D division. The work focused on fuels and lube additives, derived from fatty amines (examining aspects of green tribology) and their interactions with MoDTC.

Joe has also worked at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, working on projects on new train stations in the area, as a PRINCE2 qualified project manager. Joe is a sentinel card holder (PTS accredited) which allows for safe access to Network Rail’s mainline and freight track. This allows for laboratory scale rail tribology to be assessed more broadly, in the field.

Research interests

Dr Lanigan’s areas of research include: the wheel/rail interface, surface analysis both prior to and post wear testing, tribochemistry (for both rail and automotive applications), lubrication and wear, insight into wear mechanisms and thin solid films including Diamond-like Carbon (DLC).

Other areas of interest include surface chemical effects in tribology, green tribology (using NOCH additives, which consist of only nitrogen, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen) as well as friction in aqueous lubrication using polymer brushes.

Publications

Journal articles

Lanigan JL, Faas L, Butcher T, Skipper WA, Silva MP, Lewis R & Gomez LD (2024) Pressure induced transformation of biomass to a highly durable, low friction film on steel. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 480(2283). View this article in WRRO
Lanigan JL & Lewis R (2023) Understanding friction mechanisms of Si-DLC/steel interfaces under aqueous lubrication. RSC Advances, 13(15), 10322-10337.
Krier P, White BT, Ferriday P, Watson M, Buckley-Johnstone L, Lewis R & Lanigan JL (2021) Vehicle-based cryogenic rail cleaning : an alternative solution to ‘leaves on the line’. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil Engineering, 174(4), 176-182.
Watson M, White B, Lanigan J, Slatter T & Lewis R (2020) The composition and friction-reducing properties of leaf layers. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 476(2239), 20200057-20200057. View this article in WRRO
Krier P, Lanigan J, Ferriday P & Lewis R (2020) Development and implementation of novel cryogenic railhead cleaning technology. Permanent Way Institution Journal, 138, 35-39. View this article in WRRO
Watson M, Christoforou P, Herrera P, Preece D, Carrell J, Harmon M, Krier P, Lewis S, Maiti R, Skipper W , Taylor E et al (2019) An analysis of the quality of experimental design and reliability of results in tribology research. Wear, 426-427(Part B), 1712-1718. View this article in WRRO
Lanigan JL, Fatima S, Charpentier TV, Neville A, Dowson D & Bryant M (2018) Lubricious ionic polymer brush functionalised silicone elastomer surfaces. Biotribology, 16, 1-9.
Charpentier TVJ, Neville A, Lanigan JL, Barker R, Smith MJ & Richardson T (2016) Preparation of Magnetic Carboxymethylchitosan Nanoparticles for Adsorption of Heavy Metal Ions. ACS Omega, 1(1), 77-83.
Lanigan J, Zhao H, Morina A & Neville A (2015) Tribochemistry of silicon and oxygen doped, hydrogenated Diamond-like Carbon in fully-formulated oil against low additive oil. Tribology International, 82, 431-442.
Simmons KJ, Jackson SM, Brueckner F, Patching SG, Beckstein O, Ivanova E, Geng T, Weyand S, Drew D, Lanigan J , Sharples DJ et al (2014) Molecular mechanism of ligand recognition by membrane transport protein, Mhp1.. EMBO J, 33(16), 1831-1844.
Jaffe J, White B, Lanigan J & Lewis R () A novel methodology for developing ultra-low adhesion leaf layers on a full-scale wheel/rail rig. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit. View this article in WRRO
Folorunso MO, Lewis R & Lanigan JL () Effects of temperature and humidity on railhead friction levels. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit, 095440972211482-095440972211482.
Lanigan J, Freeman HM, Wang C, Ward MB, Morina A, Neville A & Brydson R () Understanding the wear behaviour of non-doped and Si,O-doped diamond-like carbon films. RSC Advances, 7(69), 43600-43610.
Lanigan J, Krier P, Buckley-Johnstone L, White B, Ferriday P & Lewis R () FIELD TRIALS OF A METHODOLOGY FOR LOCOMOTIVE BRAKE TESTING TO ASSESS FRICTION ENHANCEMENT IN THE WHEEL/RAIL INTERFACE USING A REPRESENTATIVE LEAF LAYER. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit. View this article in WRRO

Conference proceedings papers

Lewis R, Mesaritis M, Taiwo G, Marshall M, Krier P, Ferriday P, Buckley-Johnstone L, Lanigan J, Lewis S, Yildirimli K , Lu P et al (2022) IMPROVING THE WHEEL/RAIL CONTACT PERFORMANCE THROUGH LASER CLADDING OF RAIL, HIGH SPEED RAIL GRINDING AND RAIL CLEANING: CASE STUDIES IN GOING FROM THE LAB TO THE FIELD. CM 2022 - 12th International Conference on Contact Mechanics and Wear of Rail/Wheel Systems, Conference Proceedings (pp 477-483)
Lanigan J, Krier P, Buckley-Johnstone L, White B, Ishizaka K, Cooke J, Barnard S, Ferriday P, Beagles A & Lewis R (2018) Towards a field test methodology for locomotive brake testing using a representative low adhesion simulation. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Contact Mechanics and Wear of Rail/wheel Systems, CM 2018 (pp 495-502)
Lanigan JL, Wang C, Morina A & Neville A (2016) Repressing oxidative wear within Si doped DLCs. Tribology International, Vol. 93 (pp 651-659)
Mutafov P, Lanigan J, Neville A, Cavaleiro A & Polcar T (2014) DLC-W coatings tested in combustion engine — Frictional and wear analysis. Surface and Coatings Technology, Vol. 260 (pp 284-289)
Davison S, Lanigan J, Dwyer-Joyce R & Slatter T () Novel Green Friction Modifiers for Aqueous Lubricants. STLE 2023 Digital Proceedings. Park Ridge, IL, USA, 21 May 2023 - 25 May 2023.
Butcher T, Lanigan J, Schmandt L & Lewis R () Development of a Model to Assess the Risk of Low Adhesion at Different Rail Sites. Civil-Comp Conferences, 22 August 2022 - 25 August 2022.

Grants

Research and Development Agreement ‘Cryogenic Railhead Cleaning’, Arriva Rail North (ARN) research grant of £150,000 to examine the possibility of a trolley based cryo cleaning unit for mainline track
Cryogenic Railhead Cleaning - IIKE Funding for the development of a road-to-rail cryo cleaning system.