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Fall 2006

Adrian Podpirka

Submitted by Adrian Podpirka on

My name is Adrian Podpirka and I am a first year grad student studying applied physics. I came to Harvard after finishing my Bachelors in Material Science and Engineering at Columbia University. As an undergraduate I took Mechanics of Solids with Professor Xi Chen and Mechanical Properties of Materials with Professor Noyan.



Related to this course, my main weakness is the mathematics involved since it has been more then 3 years since I took differential equations. Also, both my undergraduate courses were not tensor based. My main strength in this course would be my understanding of material properties and the phenomenas involved.


My likely research direction will probably be in the field of fuel cell membranes with Professor Ramanathan.

Solid Mechanics Homework 11-15

Submitted by Zhigang Suo on

This set of homework relies on a few elementary facts of the algebra of vectors and tensors.  If you are vague about these facts, see some old notes I wrote when I taught ES 240 in 2006:  node/205/revisions/1385/view

11. Positive-definite elastic energy density

12. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is a second-rank tensor.

13. Hooke's law for anisotropic, linearly elastic solids

14. Invariants of a tensor

15. A "derivation" of the Mises (1913) yield criterion

Solid Mechanics Homework 6-10

Submitted by Zhigang Suo on

6. Post an entry in iMechanica to explain to your teaching staff and classmates why you take this class.

7. Residual stress around an inclusion

8. Lame Solution in Cylindrical Shape

9. Stress Concentration around a Circular Hole

10. Back-of-Envelope Calculation

Return to the outline of the course.