Skip to main content

Blog posts

Looking for a PhD student

Submitted by pschiavone on

I'm looking for a PhD student to work in the area of solid mechanics, specifically applied mathematics in linear elasticity using complex variable methods and/or boundary integral equation methods.

I'm a professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (although I am an applied mathematician by training).

You can find out more at:  www.mece.ualberta.ca/~schiavone/schiavon.htm

A mathematician's take on "what is light?"

Submitted by Amit Acharya on

Attached is an intriguing commentary on the scientific method through an example, written by my good friend, Luc Tartar. The specific example is that of trying to understand what 'light' might be, especially from a mathematician's point of view. The mathematician in this case is an extremely talented one, who also happens to actually understand a whole lot of physics and mechanics.

Mechanics in space (and High School): Lego Man's balloon voyage, or Lego Man in space

Submitted by ikpuri on

For an interesting news article about the mechanics behind Lego Man's balloon voyage to space, read the Toronto Star article by Mary Ormsby. She writes, "A 1,200-gram weather balloon, the crucial role of gravity, quiver-reducing ropes, Styrofoam’s versatility, burst altitude, a University of Wyoming website and a free software program for shutterbugs were part of the formula Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad, both 17, used to launch, film and land the patriotic, flag-bearing Lego Man..."

Fracture and contact mechanics for interface problems: a special issue of EFM

Submitted by marco.paggi on

A Special Issue of Engineering Fracture Mechanics

on

"Fracture and contact mechanics for interface problems", edited by Marco Paggi, Alberto Carpinteri and Peter Wriggers has just been published:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00137944/80

The selected articles were presented in a Minisymposium of the IV European Conference on Computational Mechanics, Paris, France, 2010.

 

Giant, voltage-actuated deformation of a dielectric elastomer under dead load

Submitted by Jiangshui Huang on

Far greater voltage-actuated deformation is achievable for a dielectric elastomer under equal-biaxial dead load than under rigid constraint usually employed. Areal strains of 488% are demonstrated. The dead load suppresses electric breakdown, enabling the elastomer to survive the snap-through electromechanical instability. The breakdown voltage is found to increase with the voltage ramp rate. A nonlinear model for viscoelastic dielectric elastomers is developed and shown to be consistent with the experimental observations. 

Published Online:

Frictional rolling contact model CONTACT version 12.1 released

Submitted by Edwin Vollebregt on

Dear all,

Herewith I want to announce the release of the frictional rolling contact model CONTACT version 12.1.

The main changes with respect to earlier versions of the program are as follows:

Postdoctoral Research Associate at Brown University: Finite Element Simulations of Active Biopolymer Networks

Submitted by Dibakar Datta on

A postdoctoral position with
primary focus on finite element simulations of active biopolymer
networks is available immediately at Shenoy Research Group @ Brown University . We are looking for a strongly
motivated candidate to work on the mechanics of active cytoskeletal
networks. The ideal candidate will have a background in solid
mechanics/computational physics with expertise in finite element simulations. Experience with Monte Carlo methods and stochastic simulations is desired but not essential.  This
individual will have the opportunity to be directly involved in