Dr James Perry

Biography

James first arrived at Cambridge to take the Natural Sciences Tripos at Jesus, and joined what was then the SMF group at the Cavendish as a PhD student. Studying silica sand under shock loading and ballistic impact, his research illustrated how very small changes in grain-scale properties of brittle systems, such as surface roughness or the presence of moisture, can significantly alter a material’s dynamic response.

James worked as a strategy consultant in the telecoms sector after his PhD, building predictive models of mobile networks and advising on spectrum auction strategies, before returning to Cambridge in 2018 to undertake an industrial research position at the Cavendish.

Research Interests

James’s research interests focus on the high-rate dynamic properties of materials, with a particular focus on fibre and granular composites. His work is experimentally led, designing novel techniques to help understand the meso- and micro-scale phenomena controlling deformation and fracture processes.

James is also the academic lead for our new ZEISS VersaXRM 730 X-ray microscope, currently housed within the department's CORDE national facility for Physics

Key Publications

Dynamic Compression of Glass/Epoxy Composites: The Effects of Fibre Architecture & Ageing, and Use of Energy Flux as a Characterisation Tool
 J. dynamic behavior mater. (2024). doi: 10.1007/s40870-024-00444-8
Perry, J.I. & Williamson, D.M.

Measuring the effect of strain rate on deformation and damage in fibre-reinforced composites: A review
J. dynamic behavior mater. (2022) 178-213 doi: 10.1007/s40870-022-00331-0
Perry, J.I. & Walley, S.M.

Vibration-induced heating of energetic materials: A review
J. dynamic behavior mater. (2022) 162-177 doi: 10.1007/s40870-021-00322-7
Perry, J.I. & Walley, S.M.

The significance of grain morphology and moisture content on the response of silica sand to ballistic penetration
Appl. Phys. Letts 115 (2019) 084102 doi: 10.1063/1.5114881
Perry, J.I., Braithwaite, C.H., Taylor, N.E. & Jardine, A.P.

The significance of grain morphology, moisture, and strain rate on the rapid compaction of silica sands
Appl. Phys. Letts 109 (2016) 174103, doi: 10.1063/1.4966178
Perry J.I., Braithwaite C.H., Taylor N.E., Pullen A.D. and Jardine A.P.

Development and validation of model for sand
EPJ Web Conferences 94 (2015) 04024
Church P., Ingamells V., Wood A., Gould P., Perry J., Jardine A. and Tyas A.

Behaviour of moist and saturated sand during shock and release
Appl. Phys. Letts 107 (2015) 174102
Perry J.I., Braithwaite C.H., Taylor N.E. and Jardine A.P.

Behaviour of sand during release from a shocked state
Appl. Phys. Letts 103, 154103 (2013)
Braithwaite C.H., Perry J.I., Taylor N.E. and Jardine A.P.