iMechanica

Carotenuto A., Lunghi L., Piccolo V., Babaei M., Dayal K., Pugno N. M., Zingales M., Deseri L.*, Fraldi M. Mechanobiology predicts raft formations triggered by ligand-receptor activity across the cell membrane, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 141 (2020) 103974 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2020.103974
*Corresponding Author

A postdoctoral position in “Multi-Scale Modeling of Composites” is available in Tehrani Group in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering at UT Austin. The position starts in August 2020. The required qualifications for this position are as follows:

·       Acquired a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related field before the position start date.

PhD position(s) is available immediately in the Engineering Mechanics program in Aerospace Engineering Department at Iowa State University to perform theoretical and computational part of work on NSF-funded projects on the interaction between phase transformations and plasticity. Phase-field, micromechanical, and macroscale simulations using FEM are of interest, in close collaboration with experiments. Please send vita to Prof. Valery Levitas (vlevitas@iastate.edu).

Interested in deep learning, scientific computations, solution, and inversion methods for PDE? 

Check out the preprint at: 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341478559_SciANN_A_Keras_wrappe...

Amit Acharya

(to appear in Comptes Rendus Mécanique)

A continuum model of fracture that describes, in principle, the propagation and interaction of
arbitrary distributions of cracks and voids with evolving topology without a 'fracture criterion'
is developed. It involves a 'law of motion' for crack-tips, primarily as a kinematical consequence
coupled with thermodynamics. Fundamental kinematics endows the crack-tip with a topological
charge. This allows the association of a kinematical conservation law for the charge, resulting
in a fundamental evolution equation for the crack-tip field, and in turn the crack field. The
vectorial crack field degrades the elastic modulus in a physically justified anisotropic manner.
The mathematical structure of this conservation law allows an additive 'free' gradient of a scalar
field in the evolution of the crack field. We associate this naturally emerging scalar field with the
porosity that arises in the modeling of ductile failure. Thus, porosity-rate gradients affect the
evolution of the crack-field which, then, naturally degrades the elastic modulus, and it is through
this fundamental mechanism that spatial gradients in porosity growth affect the strain-energy
density and stress carrying capacity of the material - and, as a dimensional consequence related
to fundamental kinematics, introduces a length-scale in the model. A key result of this work is
that brittle fracture is energy-driven while ductile fracture is stress-driven; under overall shear
loadings where mean stress vanishes or is compressive, shear strain energy can still drive shear
fracture in ductile materials.

The paper can be found here

Description

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intermet.2020.106844

Abstract

Published in Phys. Rev. Research: https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.023187

Call for applications: PhD in computational mechanics

Title: Multi-scale mechanisms of thermo-mechanical frictional contact

Supervisors: V.A. Yastrebov, C.M. Ovalle Rodas, S. Forest

Thomas, M.S. Manju, K.M. Ajith, S.U. Lee and M. Asle Zaeem. Strain-induced work function in h-BN and BCN monolayers.  Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems andNanostructures 123 (2020) 114180 (9 pages).  

Abstract

In the past decade, the development of theory has deeply revealed the electromechanical coupling deformation mechanism of dielectric elastomer (DE). Many theoretical predictions on highly nonlinear deformation of dielectric elastomer have been verified by experiments. With the guidance of theory, the voltage-induced areal strain of dielectric elastomer has been increased from 100% in the pioneering work to the current record of 2200% and the energy density of a dielectric elastomer generator has reached 780 mJ/g.

EML Webinar on May 27, 2020 will be given by Prof. Norman Fleck at the University of Cambridge via Zoom meeting. Discussion leader: Vikram Deshpande, Cambridge.

Title: New Horizons in Microarchitectured Materials

A postdoctoral position on soft material ionotronics is available in the Silberstein lab (silbersteinlab.com) to start in late summer/early fall of 2020. Expertise in electrochemistry and/or continuum mechanics is desirable. The ideal candidate will also be familiar with polyelectrolytes, gels, and/or ionomers.

The University of Southern Denmark invites applications from qualified doctoral graduates for a 3-year postdoc position in the field of Soft Robotics.

The application deadline is 14th June, 2020 | Apply Online

Published in Extreme Mechanics Letters: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eml.2020.100685. Catastrophic failure of materials and structures due to unstable crack growth could be prevented if fracture toughness could be enhanced at will through structural design, but how can this be possible if fracture toughness is a material constant related to energy dissipation in the vicinity of a propagating crack tip.

Dr. Wing Kam Liu, Walter P. Murphy Professor and Director of Global Center on Advanced Material Systems and Simulation, Northwestern University, invites applications for an open postdoctoral position within his research group.

The Electronic Components, Technology and Materials (ECTM) Group at Delft University of Technology is seeking a PhD candidate, who is available immediately. Applicants should have a recent Master degree with a strong research record in solid mechanics: multi-scale/ multi-physics modeling of advanced materials, computational mechanics for materials, structures and energy systems in extreme environments.

A Ph.D. opening in Deployable Structures is available in Dr. Kawai Kwok’s research group in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at University of Central Florida. The research will focus on developing a novel deployable blade structure using a combination of fabrication, experimental and computational techniques. Students with Bachelor or Master degrees in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and other relevant disciplines are encouraged to apply.

Amit Acharya           Jorge Vinals

A new formulation of the Phase Field Crystal model is presented that is consistent with the necessary microscopic independence between the phase field, reflecting the broken symmetry of the phase, and both mass density and elastic distortion. Although these quantities are related in equilibrium through a macroscopic equation of state, they are independent variables in the free energy, and can be independently varied in evaluating the dissipation functional that leads to the model governing equations. The equations obtained describe dislocation motion in an elastically stressed solid, and serve as an extension of the equations of plasticity to the Phase Field Crystal setting. Both finite and small deformation theories are considered, and the corresponding kinetic equations for the fields derived.

The paper can be found here

We are looking for candidates to join the Utah Waves and Architected Materials Group (w.mech.utah.edu). We have fully funded openings at all levels, including undergrads, MS, PhD, and postdocs. Both full-time and part-time researchers are needed.

I’m enormously pleased that the video of my ⁦iCanX Talk on 15 May 2020 is now placed on YouTube, as well as on https://talks.ican-x.com. Thank Alice ZHANG for creating this wonderland. In preparing the talk, I discovered a new equation: iCanX = ions can do everything. The last slide of the talk lists further readings and watchings, most of which the talk did not cover. The field is full of chaotic energy.

Postdoc Open Position

Postdoc position with financial support (up to 3 years) is immediately available in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Connecticut (UConn).

Required Degree:

Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics, Chemical, Mechanical, or Civil Engineering, Material Science, Condense Matter Physics, or Computational Chemistry.

Technology Transfer from research to companies and institutions is one of the missions of the Universities in Italy and also of the Italian system for higher education.

In this framework, 4 over 6 Schools for Advanced Studies, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, Scuola Normale Superiore and Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori Pavia share a common office for technology transfer initiatives, JoTTO, see www.jointto.it

PhD and postdoc positions are available in the area of computational solid mechanics in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University. Interested self-motivated individuals who have research experience in computational solid mechanics please send an email to (Sheidaei@iastate.edu) with your most recent CV, including TOEFL and GRE scores, research experience, a list of publications if applicable; an unofficial transcript; and a list of references.