Alan D. Roberts is a Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) scientist noted for his contributions to understanding contact phenomena in elastomers, and in particular the JKR equation.

Education

Roberts completed his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

degree in 1968, having worked in the

Cavendish laboratory The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the School of Physical Sciences. The laboratory was opened in 1874 on the New Museums Site as a laboratory for experimental physics and is named ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, under the supervision of tribologist

David Tabor David Tabor (né Tabrisky), FRS (23 October 1913 – 26 November 2005) was a British physicist who was an early pioneer of tribology, the study of frictional interaction between surfaces, and well known for his influential undergraduate textboo ...

Career

His 1971 paper with

Kevin Kendall Kevin Kendall FRS is a British physicist who received a London external BSc degree at Salford CAT in 1965 while working as an engineering apprentice at Joseph Lucas Gas Turbine Ltd. He became interested in surface science during his Ph.D. s ...

and Kenneth L. Johnson forms the basis of modern theories of

contact mechanics Contact mechanics is the study of the deformation of solids that touch each other at one or more points.Johnson, K. L, 1985, Contact mechanics, Cambridge University Press.Popov, Valentin L., 2010, ''Contact Mechanics and Friction. Physical Pri ...

. In 1974, Roberts was recruited to the Applied Physics Group at the Malaysian Rubber Producers' Research Association (MRPRA) by Alan G. Thomas. He researched the

sliding friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction: *Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion of ...

of rubber on wet surfaces and on ice, the effects of pH and salt concentration, and other effects. In 1983, he was promoted to Assistant Director of MRPRA, and the following year to Deputy Director.

Awards

Roberts received the 1998 Lavoisier Medal of the French Society of the Chemical Industry, and in 2014 he received the

Charles Goodyear Medal The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, and consists of a gold medal, a framed c ...

of the Rubber Division of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Alan D. Living people Polymer scientists and engineers British scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Tribologists