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Equations not arising from a variational principle, as well as ones that arise from functionals that are not bounded above or below, can be endowed with one with favorable properties. The concept, and some examples are listed below:

Author: Mahendra Gattu, Department of Civil Engineering, NIT-Rourkela-769008.

Abstract

The problem of fracture in quasi-brittle materials is strongly linked with a zone of micro-cracking known as the fracture process zone (FPZ). For monotonic loading, the material length scale parameter D0 is used in strength scaling law to describe the transition from strength criteria to linear elastic fracture mechanics criteria.

The Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford intends to appoint an Associate Professor of Engineering Science (Solid Mechanics) with effect from 1 October 2025 (or as soon as possible thereafter). The successful candidate will work at the Department of Engineering Science (Central Oxford) and will be offered a Tutorial Fellowship at Pembroke College. The appointment will be initially for five years at which point, upon completion of a successful review, the post-holder will be eligible for reappointment to the retiring age.

The Mechanics of Soft Materials Lab (https://www.msm.seas.ucla.edu/) led by Prof Lihua Jin in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has a PhD opening to be filled in 2025 fall. Successful candidates are expected to work on modeling, simulations, and experiments of soft materials, soft tissue and soft robots. The ideal candidates will be highly motivated with a strong background in solid mechanics and computation, and be fluent in spoken and written English.

The Fracture Mechanics and Structural Integrity Research Laboratory (NAMEF) of the Polytechnic School of Engineering at the University of São Paulo (EPUSP) in Brazil has an opening for a 2-year postdoctoral fellow (which may be extended to an additional year depending on funding availability) with a strong background in fracture mechanics and computational modeling of materials starting from February/2025.

Our latest paper, "Developing Mode I Cohesive Traction Laws for Crystalline UHMWPE Interphases Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations," is now freely accessible for the next 50 days from this link: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1k9Pk3In-v14Go