Skip to main content

Blog posts

A Generalised Coleman-Noll Procedure and the Balance Laws of Hyper-Anelasticity

Submitted by arash_yavari on

It is known that the balance laws of hyperelasticity (Green elasticity), i.e., conservation of mass and balance of linear and angular momenta, can be derived using the first law of thermodynamics and by postulating its invariance under superposed rigid body motions of the Euclidean ambient space---the Green-Naghdi-Rivlin theorem. In the case of a non-Euclidean ambient space, covariance of the energy balance---its invariance under arbitrary time-dependent diffeomorphisms of the ambient space---gives all the balance laws and the Doyle-Ericksen formula---the Marsden-Hughes theorem.

Variational principle for a damped, quadratically interacting particle chain with nonconservative forcing

Submitted by Amit Acharya on

Amit Acharya            Ambar N. Sengupta

A method for designing variational principles for the dynamics of a possibly dissipative and non-conservatively forced chain of particles is demonstrated. Some qualitative features of the formulation are discussed.

In: Springer Proceedings in Mathematics and Statistics, Proceedings of the Conference on Continuum Mechanics and Discrete Systems 14 (CMDS-14), ed. F. Willot, J. Dirrenberger, S. Forest, D. Jeulin, A. Cherkaev, v. 457, 195-200, 2024 (published online, 2023).

Programmable inverse design framework for morphing hard-magnetic soft materials

Submitted by Fan Xu on

As a type of shape-programmable soft materials, hard-magnetic soft materials (HMSMs) exhibit rapid and reversible deformations under applied magnetic fields, showing promise for soft robotics, flexible electronics, and biomedical devices. The realization of various controllable shape transformations is crucial to the rational design of relevant applications.

4 PhD and postdoc positions in composites @Ghent University, Belgium, Europe

Submitted by wvpaepeg on

The research group Mechanics of Materials and Structures at Ghent University (UGent-MMS) has 4 vacancies for PhD and postdoc research in the field of fibre-reinforced composites. The vacancies are linked to research on composite hydrogen tanks, composite propellers for drones and finite element modelling of textile manufacturing. All research will be conducted with leading companies in the field.

More information can be found on

Postdoctoral Research Associate -- Modeling of Electronic and Quantum Materials

Submitted by Harley T. Johnson on

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position in the research group of Professor Harley Johnson, working within the NSF-funded Illinois Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (I-MRSEC) and in collaboration with the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP). The position is expected to begin September 1, 2025, and will be based in Urbana, IL, with occasional work in Chicago.

The Darboux Classification of Curl Forces

Submitted by arash_yavari on

We study particle dynamics under curl forces. These forces are a class of non-conservative, non-dissipative, position-dependent forces that cannot be expressed as the gradient of a potential function. We show that the fundamental quantity of particle dynamics under curl forces is a work 1-form. By using the Darboux classification of differential 1-forms on R2 and R3, we establish that any curl force in two dimensions has at most two generalized potentials, while in three dimensions, it has at most three.