dissipation

Soft materials including elastomers and gels are pervasive in biological systems and technological applications. Whereas it is known that intrinsic fracture energies of soft materials are relatively low, how the intrinsic fracture energy cooperates with mechanical dissipation in process zone to give high fracture toughness of soft materials is not well understood. In addition, it is still challenging to predict fracture energies and crack-tip strain fields of soft tough materials.

Two postdoctoral positions are available in the group of Prof. M. Urbakh in lively Tel-Aviv. Topics are centered around nano and micro-scale tribology (friction, dissipation, adhesion, wear) involving theory, modeling, and computer simulation of frictional and nonlinear
dissipation phenomena.

Frictional energy dissipation in contact of nominally flat rough surfaces under harmonically varying loads  Original Research Article

Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, , Available online 1 October 2011,
C. Putignano, M. Ciavarella, J.R. Barber   View Abstract