Mechanical Engineering Faculty Profile:

Dr. William Fourney
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Professor of Aerospace Engineering
Associate Dean

3164 Glenn L. Martin Hall, Building 088
University of Maryland
College Park, MD  20742

                        Phone: 301.405.1129
                        Email: four@umd.edu

Research Interest

Dynamic fracture mechanics; rock fracture and fragmentation; experimental stress analysis.

Vita

W. L. (Bill) Fourney is currently Keystone Professor and Associate Dean of Engineering at the University of Maryland. He holds a joint appointment in the Mechanical Engineering Department and the Aerospace Engineering Department. He received his BS in Aerospace Engineering and his MS in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from West Virginia University. His PhD in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics was received from the University of Illinois in 1966.

His areas of research interest are in experimental mechanics and fracture mechanics - primarily from a dynamic aspect. He has published approximately 220 articles describing the results of his research in dynamic fracture and crack arrest including approximately 50 reports to the sponsors of his research. His research has been sponsored by NSF, AFOSR, ONR, NRC, DOE, NSWC, ARL, Oak Ridge National Labs, Los Alamos National Labs, and the US Bureau of Mines.

He has served as a consultant for Gillett Research Labs, Versar, Allegheny Ballistics Lab, Harry Diamond Labs, Los Alamos National Labs, and SAIC. He is active in the Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM) and the International Society for Explosives Engineering (ISEE). In SEM he has been elected to fellow grade membership. Within ASTM he served as Chairman of the Crack Arrest Technical Committee. Within ISRM he was President of the Commission of Fragmentation by Blasting and is North American Editor of FRAGBLAST (International Journal on Fragmentation and Blasting). Recently the group that he chairs has switched affiliations from ISRM to ISEE. The name of that group is the Committee of Fragmentation by Blasting and is a Section within ISEE. He is also a member of the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM), the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the American Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics AIAA), and the American Helicopter Society (AHS).

Education

Ph.D., University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, 1966
M.S., West Virginia University
B.S., West Virginia University

Select Publications

• Chang, P., and W.L. Fourney, “Design-Based Course Sequence in Statics and Strength of Materials,” International Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 16. No. 5, 2000.
• Fourney, W.L., D.J. Goodings, R.J. Bonenberger, and H.U. Leiste, “Visualization of Cratering in an Underwater Environment,” FRAGBLAST—The International Journal for Blasting and Fragmentation, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2001.
• Fourney, W.L., D. J. Goodings, R. J. Bonenberger, and H.U. Leiste, “Cratering and Channeling in an Underwater Environment,” BAI’s Tenth High-Tech Seminar on Blasting Technology, Nashville, Tenn., July 2001.
• Casem, D.T., W. L. Fourney, and P. Chang, "Wave Separation in Viscoelastic Pressure Bars Using Single-Point Measurements of Strain and Velocity," Polymer Testing, Vol.22, pp 155-164, 2003.
• Casem, D.T., W. L. Fourney, and P. Chang, "A Polymeric Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar Instrumented with Velocity Gages”, Experimental Mechanics, Vol. 43, No. 4, December, 2003.
  
• Fourney, W.L., U. Leiste, R. Bonenberger, and D. Goodings, "Explosive Impulse on Plates," International Journal on Fragmentation by Blasting, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp 1-17, March 2005.

Scientific and Professional Membership

Member, Executive Board of SEMEF (Educational Foundation for SEM); National Member, ASTM, ASME, AIAA, AHS, ASEE, SEM, ISRM, American Academy of Mechanics; Chairman of International Society of Rock Mechanics Commission on Fragmentation by Blasting; Member of International Organizing Committee on 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th International Conference on Fragmentation by Blasting; Editor, International Journal of Fragmentation and Blasting; Member, Advisory Committee, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, West Virginia University; Member, Pi Tau Sigma, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Gamma Tau, Sigma Xi, Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Delta Phi; Charter Member, Academy of Distinguished Alumni, WVU Aerospace Engineering Department; Advisory Board, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering; SEM 2000 F. G. Tatnall Award.

Honors and Awards

Fellow, Society of Experimental Mechanics (SEM); Clifford L. Sayre Outstanding Teaching Award, 1995; Pi Tau Sigma Outstanding Teaching Award, 1995; Faculty Advisor, Omicron Delta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi; Listed in Who’s Who in Technology.

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