Dr Ramin Rahmani

BSc (Hons.), MSc, PhD, FHEA

Senior Lecturer in Tribology and Dynamics

Research groups and centres

Dynamics & Tribology

Background

BSc and MSc in Mechanical Engineering, PhD in Tribology

Joined Loughborough University initially as a Research Associate and currently a Senior Lecturer in the Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering.

Research Group Responsibilities

Deputy Theme Leader for Dynamics and Thermofluids Research Theme

Research Interests and Activities

My main research focus is on improving the tribodynamics performance of various IC Engine, Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Powertrain components by increasing Energy Efficiency through reducing Frictional Power Losses and tackling Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) issues simultaneously:

Dynamics (Vibration), Contact Mechanics, Tribology and Thermal Analysis with application in bearings, gears, mechanical or radial seals and particularly in vehicle powertrain components such as piston, piston-rings and cylinder liner conjunctions, clutch, valvetrain and transmission systems, big-end bearings and other journal and rolling element bearings
Mechanical Surface Engineering such as Laser Surface Texturing with application in enhancing tribological performance of various conjunctions
Implications of Hybridisation of engine powertrain and use of modern engine management technologies such as Engine Stop-Start and Cylinder Deactivation (CDA) technologies on tribological and NVH performance of Engine Powertrain Components
Thermodynamics of IC Engines with focus on Adverse Environmental Emissions
Lubricant Rheology and Surface Topography Characterisation
Study of Lubricant – Surface interaction in various physical scales as a system
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with application in analysis of cavitation phenomenon in lubricated tribological conjunctions and gas blow-by analysis in IC engines
Guided Stochastic Search / Optimisation Methods (Genetic Algorithms)

Industrial Collaborations

I am currently involved in various research and enterprise (consultancy) projects with the following industrial partners and research organisations:

Capricorn Automotive Ltd. (through EPSRC DTPscheme) – Developing Low Friction Engine Components (An example of published research: 1)
AVL List (through EPSRC CDT-ei scheme) – Developing Predictive Tribodynamics Models for Piston Rings (Examples of published research: 1, 2, 3)
AVL List (through EPSRC CDT-ei scheme) – Developing Predictive Tribodynamics Models for Bevel / Hypoid Gears
Tribodynamics of a High-Performance Racing Transmission System (through EPSRC DTP scheme) (Examples of published research: 1, 2)
Neapco Germany (through EPSRC DTP scheme) – Transmission Seals (An example of published research: 1)
Denso Japan (Direct funding)
Tribodynamics of a Constant Velocity (CV) Joint for a High-Performance Racing Vehicle Application (through EPSRC DTP scheme)

I have also worked with the following institutions and industrial partners on various research as well as enterprise (consultancy) projects:

Caterpillar / Perkins (through InnovateUK) on Engine Based Driveline Disconnect for Downsizing (Examples of published research: 1, 2)
BP Nexcel (Direct funding)
BP Castrol Ltd. (through EPSRC CDT-ei scheme) (An example of published research: 1)
Lubrizol (Direct funding) (Examples of published research: 1, 2)
Coleherne Ltd. (Direct funding)
Tribodynamics of a High-Performance Racing Transmission System (Direct funding from industrial partner) (An example of published research: 1)Specialist Lubricants Ltd. (InnovateUK KTP scheme) on Nanoparticle Dispersion in Dry Lubricants (Examples of published research from extended collaboration: 1, 2)
International Institute for Cavitation Research (ICR) funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF) – Cavitation in Tribological Conjunctions (Examples of published research: 1, 2, 3, 4)
JCB (through InnovateUK) on ECO Driveline
Pera Technology (Direct funding)
Ford Motor Co (Examples of published work: 1, 2)
HF Mixing Group / Farrel Ltd. (InnovateUK KTP scheme) on Seals for Mixing Machinery
Concentric AB UK (Direct funding)
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (Direct funding)
Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, PR China on Tribology of Bidirectional Dry Gas Seals (funded by Chinese Scholarship Council – CSC) (Examples of published research: 1, 2)

I have also worked with a consortium of industrial partners in the EPSRC funded Encyclopaedic national program grant including Aston-Martin Lagonda, BP Castrol, ES Technology, Capricorn Automotive Ltd, Prodrive, Ricardo Consulting Engineers (Examples of published research: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

External Activities

Associate Editor for Proceedings of Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J: Journal of Engineering Tribology
Guest Editor for Special Issue on Textured Surfaces (Vol. 229, Issue 4, 2015) in Proceedings of Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J: Journal of Engineering Tribology
Guest Editor for Special Issue on Tribology of Powertrain Systems in MDPI Lubricants
Editorial Board Member of Springer Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A (JZUS-A)
External Examiner for PhD candidates in various UK Universities including Leeds, Bath, City, Coventry, Bradford, Southampton and Nottingham Universities
Invited reviewer for various institutions, publishers and journals including:
ASME Journal of Tribology and ASME conferences
STLE Tribology Transactions
IMechE /Sage
Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science
Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering
Part J: Journal of Engineering Tribology
Part K: Journal of Multi-body Dynamics
Elsevier:
Tribology International
International Journal of Thermal Sciences
Applied Mathematical Modelling
Journal of Materials Research and Technology
Simulation Modelling and Practice
Wear
Inderscience International Journal of Powertrains (IJPT)
ASTM Materials Performance and Characterization
MDPI Lubricates, Applied Sciences, Materials, etc.
PLOS ONE
SAE
Royal Society Proceedings A
CRC Press
Wiley Publishing
Deputy Theme Leader for Dynamics and Thermofluids Research Theme