My Expertise
Ballistic impact and projectile-penetration mechanisms, Dynamic behavior of materials, Shock propagation in condensed matter, Hydrocode analysis.
Fields of Research (FoR)
Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Materials, Composite Materials, Numerical Modelling and Mechanical Characterisation, Condensed Matter PhysicsBiography
Paul Hazell is a Professor of Impact Dynamics in the School of Engineering and Information Technology (SEIT) at UNSW Canberra. Prior to taking up this appointment he was a Reader at Cranfield University (UK), head of the Centre for Ordnance Science and Technology and head of the Dynamic Response Group.
His main research interests centre on the dynamic behaviour of materials and structures that have been subjected to impact / shock loading. In...view more
Paul Hazell is a Professor of Impact Dynamics in the School of Engineering and Information Technology (SEIT) at UNSW Canberra. Prior to taking up this appointment he was a Reader at Cranfield University (UK), head of the Centre for Ordnance Science and Technology and head of the Dynamic Response Group.
His main research interests centre on the dynamic behaviour of materials and structures that have been subjected to impact / shock loading. In particular his recent work has involved examining the role that microstructure plays in the shock and spall behaviour of certain metals. He has also been actively involved in discovering methods for improving the performance of lightweight armour systems including ways of defending against attack from shaped-charge weapon systems and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Paul's teaching experience includes courses on armour systems design, military vehicle lethality & survivability, computational modelling techniques, shock and impact mechanics, impact dynamics, ballistics, firepower technologies, lethality and survivability and weapon technologies. He has won two awards for his 'motivated' lecturing style.
Paul is chairman of the Impact Dynamics Research Group (IDRG) at UNSW Canberra and has published extensively in the fields of shock, impact and ballistics. He is also on the Editorial Board for the journal Shock Waves (Springer) and written two books on the subject of armour and a recent book on guns, entitled: “The Story of the Gun: History, Science, and Impact on Society’ (Springer, 2021).
My Qualifications
BEng (Hons)
EngD
My Research Activities
My work can be divided into five key themes:
- Shock compression of condensed matter. This includes phase changes and spall as well as examining new experimental techniques.
- Dynamic behaviour of porous materials and structures. This includes looking at ways to mitigate impact energy.
- Bio behaviour and biomimicry. How can we learn from nature to inform the design of impact resilient materials and structures?
- Penetration mechanics. Understanding how projectile penetrate into a range of matter, from low velocity to hypervelocity. This includes cratering mechanisms.
- Constitutive model development. This includes developing new models to understand dynamic processes and feeding those models with experimental data.
My Teaching
ZEIT 3501 Engineering Materials
ZEIT 4014 Impact Dynamics
ZINT 8301 Lethality and Survivability
Location
School of Engineering and Information Technology
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
UNSW CANBERRA
PO Box 7916, CANBERRA BC 2610, Australia
Publications
ORCID as entered in ROS
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8302-3173
Research Activities
Light-weight armour studies
In this work we used forward ballistic, reverse ballistic and computational analysis techniques to interrogate the effect of the gilding jacket from a 7.62 mm × 51 mm FFV armour-piercing bullet during the penetration of ceramic-faced targets. When the gilding jacket is removed, it is shown that greater damage occurs to the core suggesting that the presence of the jacket is pre-damaging the ceramic before core arrival. This work helps us to understand better ways of designing and building lighter-weight armour to protect our troops…
Videos
