Polarization switching-induced shielding or anti-shielding of an electrically permeable crack in a mono-domain ferroelectric material with the original polarization direction perpendicular to the crack is simulated by a phase field model based on the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation. The domain wall energy and the long-range mechanical and electrical interactions between polarizations are taken into account. The phase field simulations exhibit a wing-shape- switched zone backwards the crack tip.

A stiff skin forms on surface areas of a flat polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) upon exposure to focused ion beam (FIB) leading to ordered surface wrinkles. By controlling the FIB fluence and area of exposure of the PDMS, one can create a variety of patterns in the wavelengths in the micrometer to submicrometer range, from simple one-dimensional wrinkles to peculiar and complex hierarchical nested wrinkles. Examination of the chemical composition of the exposed PDMS reveals that the stiff skin resembles amorphous silica. Moreover, upon formation, the stiff skin tends to expand in the direction perpendicular to the direction of ion beam irradiation. The consequent mismatch strain between the stiff skin and the PDMS substrate buckles the skin, forming the wrinkle patterns. The induced strains in the stiff skin are estimated by measuring the surface length in the buckled state. Estimates of the thickness and stiffness of the stiffened surface layer are estimated by using the theory for buckled films on compliant substrates. The method provides an effective and inexpensive technique to create wrinkled hard skin patterns on surfaces of polymers for various applications. Click here for access to the full article. See also the press release: Applied scientists create wrinkled 'skin' on polymers

Sandia National Laboratories, California has established the Engineering Sciences Summer Institute (ESSI) program, in which applied mechanics, structural analysis and mechanical engineering graduate students are invited to spend a summer at SNL/CA performing research that would jointly benefit the students and Sandia. The program is nine years old and a description of the program is attached. Because of the funding base for this program, we can only consider students having U.S.

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Deadline for submitting an abstract: 5 March 2007.

Responding to the wishes of members, the ASME Congress will change to a new format, starting this year. Sessions will not be allocated to Divisions, but will be allocated to symposiums after abstracts are reviewed. Thus, your action item is to submit an abstract to a symposium. Here are terms as used in the 2007 Congress:

Session. Technical sessions will be scheduled for four days, Monday-Thursday. Each session will last 90 minutes, and consists of 4-6 talks. There will be 23 parallell sessions at a given time, 5 time slots for sessions per day, and a total of 23x5x4 = 460 sessions for the entire congress.

Suppose if somebody asked you the following question, and more importantly, wanted the answer to an accuracy of 100-digits:

• Problem A: A particle at the center of a 10 x 1 rectangle undergoes Brownian motion (i.e., two-dimensional random walk with infinitesimal step lengths) until it hits the boundary. What is the probability that it hits at one of the ends rather than at one of the sides?

Or, this question (again, demanding the answer to an accuracy of 100-digits):

Abstract: Flexible electronic devices often require hermetic coatings that can withstand applied strains. This paper calculates the critical strains for various configurations of channel cracks in a coating consisting of organic and inorganic layers. We show that the coating can sustain the largest strain when the organic layer is of some intermediate thicknesses.

Flexible electronics are promising for diverse applications, such as rollable displays, conformal sensors, and printable solar cells. These systems are thin, rugged, and lightweight. They can be manufactured at low costs, for example, by roll-to-roll printing. The development of flexible electronics has raised many issues concerning the mechanical behavior of materials. This paper examines a particular issue: channel cracks in hermetic coatings.

Electronic devices (e.g., organic light-emitting devices, OLEDs) often degrade when exposed to air. Developing hermetic coatings has been a significant challenge. Organic films are permeable to gases, and inorganic films inevitably contain processing flaws, so that neither by themselves are effective gas barriers. These considerations have led to the development of multilayer coatings consisting of alternating organic and inorganic films. To be used in flexible electronics, these coatings must also withstand applied strains without forming channel cracks...

This paper presents some developments related to the idea of covariance in elasticity. The geometric point of view in continuum mechanics is briefly reviewed. Building on this, regarding the reference configuration and the ambient space as Riemannian manifolds with their own metrics, a Lagrangian field theory of elastic bodies with evolving reference configurations is developed. It is shown that even in this general setting, the Euler-Lagrange equations resulting from horizontal (referential) variations are equivalent to those resulting from vertical (spatial) variations. The classical Green-Naghdi-Rivilin theorem is revisited and a material version of it is discussed. It is shown that energy balance, in general, cannot be invariant under isometries of the reference configuration, which in this case is identified with a subset of R^3. Transformation properties of balance of energy under rigid translations and rotations of the reference configuration is obtained. The spatial covariant theory of elasticity is also revisited. The transformation of balance of energy under an arbitrary diffeomorphism of the reference configuration is obtained and it is shown that some nonstandard terms appear in the transformed balance of energy. Then conditions under which energy balance is materially covariant are obtained. It is seen that material covariance of energy balance is equivalent to conservation of mass, isotropy, material Doyle-Ericksen formula and an extra condition that we call ‘configurational inviscidity’. In the last part of the paper, the connection between Noether’s theorem and covariance is investigated. It is shown that the Doyle-Ericksen formula can be obtained as a consequence of spatial covariance of Lagrangian density. Similarly, it is shown that the material Doyle-Ericksen formula can be obtained from material covariance of Lagrangian density.

The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at North Carolina State University invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in the general area of mechanical sciences. Candidates must have an earned doctorate in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering or closely-related field. Successful candidates will be expected to teach at the undergraduate and graduate levels, to advise graduate students, and to establish a high quality, nationally-visible externally funded research program.