In response to a stimulus, a soft material deforms, and the deformation provides a function. We call such a material a soft active material (SAM). This review focuses on one class of soft active materials: dielectric elastomers. Subject to a voltage, a membrane of a dielectric elastomer reduces thickness and expands area, possibly straining over 100%. The phenomenon is being developed as transducers for broad applications, including soft robots, adaptive optics, Braille displays, and electric generators.

Hi all, 

[Warning: The writing is long, as is usually the case with my posts :)]

It all began with a paper that I proposed for an upcoming conference in India. The extended abstract got accepted, of course, but my work is still in progress, and today I am not sure if I can meet the deadline. So, I may perhaps withdraw it, and then submit a longer version of it to a journal, later.

    There is a new opening (Full time) for Materials Engineer with emphasis upon computational materials design and modeling. Also, there is an opening for Graduate and Undergraduate intership at QuesTek Innovations LLC located in Evanston, IL. Additional details available at www.questek.com

Rajesh

A Research and Development Scientist position in developing multiscale-multiphysics computational technologies for composite materials and structures is available immediately at the Multiscale Design Systems, LLC located in New York City. The candidate should hold a doctoral degree in a relevant discipline, such as Mechanical, Aerospace or Civil Engineering. The candidate should have a strong background in multiscale simulations and scientific programming (C, C++, or Fortran).

We have an opening for a postdoctoral scholar in the area of computational mechanics. Specific problems of interest include the nonlocal plasticity, molecular dynamics and meshless methods for continuum damage mechanics. Rich experience of C++, X-windows image processing, and Fortran programming (especially parallel processing) is required. Contact: Professor Jung W. Hong at Michigan State University.  Email: jwh@egr dot msu dot edu.

A new postdoctoral position in continuum mechanics is available at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Candidates should have a strong background in physics and/or theoretical mechanics, as well as experience with analytical and computational methods for solving partial differential equations. Possible projects include the mechanics of frictional sliding, the mechanics of biomaterials, the mechanics of glassy materials and dislocation-mediated plasticity. Highly motivated candidates are requested to send their CV, publications list and statement of research interests to Dr.

This paper studies the poroelastic behavior of an alginate hydrogel by a combination of theory and experiment. The gel—covalently crosslinked, submerged in water and fully swollen—is suddenly compressed between two parallel plates. The gap between the plates is held constant subsequently, and the force on the plate relaxes while water in the gel migrates. This experiment is analyzed by using the theory of linear poroelasticity.

Hi all,

I am conducting some cohesive crack simulations within the framework of XFEM. The cohesive model is an initially rigid traction-separation law for mode I.  In order to deal with negative values of the normal sepration/jump, I use a penalty stiffness K.