To appear in Journal of Elasticity

A continuum mechanical theory of fracture without singular fields is proposed. The primary
contribution is the rationalization of the structure of a `law of motion' for crack-tips, essentially
as a kinematical consequence and involving topological characteristics. Questions of compatibility
arising from the kinematics of the model are explored. The thermodynamic driving force
for crack-tip motion in solids of arbitrary constitution is a natural consequence of the model.
The governing equations represent a new class of pattern-forming equations.

It gives me great pleasure to announce the outcome of the 2016 competition for the Eshelby Mechanics Award for Young Faculty. This award is given annually to rapidly emerging junior faculty who exemplify the creative use and development of mechanics. The intent of the award is to promote the field of mechanics, especially among young researchers. The selection committee consisted of: K. Ravi-chandar (UT Austin), Huajian Gao (Brown University), G.

Call for Abstracts, ASME 2017 IMECE, 3-9 November 2017, Tampa, Florida

Track: Materials: Genetics to Structures

Symposium: 11‐6 Phase Transformations in Materials Processing and Their Effects on Mechanical Properties

Highly porous alumina-zirconia ceramics were produced by adding space-holder materials during freeze casting. To increase the strength of porous ceramics, different amounts of nanoadditives (silicon carbide-SiC, silica-SiO₂, and multi-wall carbon nanotubes-CNTs) were added. Space-holder materials were removed by preheating, and solid samples were produced by sintering. Up to 68% porosity was achieved when 40% space-holder was added to the solid load of slurry. Wall thicknesses between pores were more uniform and thinner when nanoadditives were added.

Advances in fabrication technologies are enabling the production of architected materials with unprecedented properties. Most such materials are characterized by a fixed geometry, but in the design of some materials it is possible to incorporate internal mechanisms capable of reconfiguring their spatial architecture, and in this way to enable tunable functionality.

A research group at Iowa State University (https://www.aere.iastate.edu/lmxiong/) is looking for research assistants in the field of solid mechanics, computational mechanics, computational materials science and engineering. Research topics will fall into a broad area of modeling and simulation of mechanical and transport behaviors, such as plasticity, fracture, phase transformation, thermal transport, or mass transport, in a variety of engineering materials.

The Mechanics Department at École Polytechnique invites applications for a faculty position at the Assistant Professor level in all areas of mechanics. See details in joint document.

2D materials are fascinating for numerous reasons. Their geometrical and mechanical characteristics along with other associated physical properties have opened up fascinating new application avenues ranging from electronics, energy harvesting, biological systems among others. Due to the 2D nature of these materials, they are known for their unusual flexibility and the ability to sustain large curvature deformations. Further, they undergo noticeable thermal fluctuations at room temperature.