Two positions at the PhD level are available in solid mechanics in my group in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.  I'm looking for motivated students in the area of solid mechanics and materials, with specific application to the multiphysics behavior of polymeric materials.  A few key areas are polymeric gels, thermo-mechanics of polymers, shape-memory polymers, chemical reactions occurring in a deforming polymer, and so on.  Research topics are broad and cover the full range of theoretical, numerical, and experimen

In the present paper, weakly enforced no-slip wall boundary conditions are revisited in the context of Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) with near-wall modeling. A new formulation is proposed in the framework of weakly enforced no-slip conditions that is better aligned with traditional near-wall modeling approaches than its predecessors. The new formulation is tested on turbulent open-channel flows at friction-velocity-based Reynolds numbers _Reτ=395Reτ=395 and 950 benchmark problems.

Seamless and minimally invasive three-dimensional interpenetration of electronics within artificial or natural structures could allow for continuous monitoring and manipulation of their properties. Flexible electronics provide a means for conforming electronics to non-planar surfaces, yet targeted delivery of flexible electronics to internal regions remains difficult. Here, we overcome this challenge by demonstrating the syringe injection (and subsequent unfolding) of sub-micrometre-thick, centimetre-scale macroporous mesh electronics through needles with a diameter as small as 100 μm.

Most of the auxetic materials that have been characterized experimentally or studied analytically are anisotropic and this limits their possible applications, as they need to be carefully oriented during operation. Here, through a combined numerical and experimental approach, we demonstrate that 2D auxetic materials with isotropic response can be easily realized by perforating a sheet with elongated cuts arranged to form a periodic pattern with either six-fold or three-fold symmetry.

Recently we published a paper in Physical Review Applied. It can be downloaded from the link

 http://journals.aps.org/prapplied/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.3.064014

 Abstract of the article is below:

Reconfigurable metamaterials -- putting the holes in the right place

Shu Yang¹ and Jie Yin²

¹Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, E-mail: shuyang [at] seas.upenn.edu (shuyang[at]seas[dot]upenn[dot]edu)

The Computational Mechanics group at The University of Iowa, led by Professor S. Rahman, is looking for new Ph.D. students, who are capable of and interested in performing high-quality research on engineering design. The research, supported by National Science Foundation and others, entails building a solid mathematical foundation, devising efficient numerical algorithms, and developing practical computational tools for stochastic design optimization. A substantial background in solid mechanics and structural optimization is a must; exposures to stochastics and probabilistic methods are highly desirable.

If you are interested in pursuing a Ph.D. degree at Iowa, please contact and send a resume to: Professor Sharif Rahman at sharif-rahman [at] uiowa.edu. Please note that we are interested in students who already have M.S. degrees in engineering or mathematics. The desired start date is Spring 2016 or sooner.

Recently we published a paper in Composite Structures. It can be freely downloaded from the link

http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1RGr0x-7hNgCX

Abstract of the article is below:

Development of advanced materials for high-end applications is driven by the increasing understanding of the dynamics and properties of defect microstructures, leading to the ability to synthesize and control materials microstructures to meet specific application demands. Dislocation motion is the fundamental physical mechanism of the plastic deformation process in crystalline materials.

Special Issue on 

Nanoscale Biological Materials 

Call for Papers