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.
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
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.
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.
"Prediction" of friction is an old dream. Even in the field of rubber friction, where we think we understand the various mechanisms of hysteresis and adhesion, we are very far from this achievement.
Uditnarayan Kouskiya Robert L. Pego Amit Acharya
We look for traveling waves of the semi-discrete conservation law $4 \dot{u}_j + u_{j+1}^2 - u_{j-1}^2 = 0$, using variational principles related to concepts of ``hidden convexity'' appearing in recent studies of various PDE (partial differential equations). We analyze and numerically compute with two variational formulations related to dual convex optimization problems constrained by either the differential-difference equation (DDE) or nonlinear integral equation (NIE) that wave profiles should satisfy. We prove existence theorems conditional on the existence of extrema that satisfy a strict convexity criterion, and numerically exhibit a variety of localized, periodic and non-periodic wave phenomena.
Dear Colleagues,
We are excited to announce the Workshop 'Emerging Trends in Nanomechanics: Experimental, Computational and Machine Learning Approaches' (Nanomaterials2025), taking place September 15–17, 2025, in Champaign, Illinois.
Previous studies have reported fracture localization within the inclusions of 3D-printed staggered composites, despite their significantly higher strength compared to the matrix – a seemingly counterintuitive phenomenon. In this letter, we investigate whether material failure is governed by the volumetric energy of fracture rather than the maximum stress criterion. We perform experiments on the constituent phases of 3D-printed staggered composites to evaluate the validity of energy-based failure criteria.
This study, motivated by applications in nuclear engineering, examines the fluid-induced vibrations of a flexible inner cylinder concentrically positioned within a rigid outer cylinder, separated by a quiescent Newtonian viscous fluid. Building on our previous work, which focused on forced motions, we extend the theoretical formulation to account for vibrations induced by fluid forces. A new expression for the linear fluid force is derived, introducing a fluid transfer function that depends on key dimensionless numbers such as the aspect ratio, radius ratio, and Stokes number.
The Canterbury Fracture Group (www.cfg.nz) has open PhD positions in the area of high throughput experimentation.
The positions will involve laboratory, modelling, and analysis work to support our effort to characterize the tail of the fatigue life distribution across a range of parameters. We will be building on this recently published work www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142112325000866
