Molecular dynamics (MD) is employed to investigate the plastic deformation mechanisms of single crystalline yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia (YSTZ) nanopillars under uniaxial compression. Simulation results show that the nanoscale plastic deformation of YSTZ is strongly dependent on the crystallographic orientation of zirconia nanopillars. For the first time, the experimental explored tetragonal to monoclinic phase transformation is reproduced by MD simulations in some particular loading directions.

Small-scale mechanics, especially in situ in electron microscopes, is what I enjoy spending my time with. Within this monthly journal club topic on iMechanica, I would like to give a quick recapitulation of what happened in micromechanics, of course with special emphasis to in situ techniques, over the last years to set the stage. Subsequently, we should revisit some longstanding issues before turning towards recent developments in the field of fracture testing.

Dear Colleague,

I kindly inform you that, in the framework of the 14th International
Conference on Fracture (ICF14), to be held in Rhodes, Greece, June 18-23,
2017, we are organizing a mini-symposium on "Fracture and contact in
multiphysics problems: from energy to biological applications".

If you are interested, please submit your two-page abstract through the
ICF14 website (www.icf14.org) by October 31, 2016, selecting our
mini-symposium.

We are looking for a doctoral student to join our Arctic Marine and Ice Technology research group at the Aalto University (Finland), Department of Mechanical Engineering, to study ice-structure interaction process in shallow water using numerical simulations.  In the complex ice-structure interaction process an intact ice sheet fails into discrete ice blocks, which affect further stages of the process. Realistic calculations of ice loads due to this process require modeling of the ice blocks and their pile-up process.

A paper by Kubelwa et al. (Statistical Modelling of Bending Stress in ACSR Overhead Transmission Line Conductors subjected to Aeolian Vibrations –I) reports data from vibration tests on 4 ACSR.  under  3 axial loads (20, 25 and 30% UTS). An 84.5 m conductor span is vibrated at various bending amplitudes and strain is measured near a clamped end (distance not given). Clamps are rigid square-faced bushings. Vibration amplitude is measured at 89 mm from bushing. Strain gages are glued on 3 adjacent top layer wires. Through Hooke’s law, mean stress is derived for each amplitude.

This is the first call-for-contributions for the International Workshop-Conference Research Challenges in Mechanics: Applications of Automated Computational Modeling to be held between 01-03 March (2017) in Hannover (Germany).

For more information visit www.rcm2017.uni-hannover.de

            The University of Notre Dame, Center for Shock Wave-processing of Advanced Reactive Materials (C-SWARM), is seeking a highly qualified candidate for the postdoctoral associate position in the area of computational mechanics/physics with emphasis on chemically reactive solids. C-SWARM is center of excellence established by National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) whose primary focus is on the emerging field of predictive science.

Shengqiang Cai, of the University of California at San Diego, will be the new editor of the iMechanica Journal Club.  He is an active researcher in the field of soft materials, and has made contributions to the development of theory, experiment, and computation.  He will be principally responsible for selecting the discussion leaders for themes in 2017.