hierarchical materials

Dear Colleagues,

I invite you to read our recent paper on hierarchically architected foams published in Extreme Mechanics Letters: Read full article here.

Abstract

Achieving high damping and stiffness is challenging in common materials because of their inter-dependent scaling. Controlling extreme mechanical waves requires synergistically enhanced damping and stiffness. We demonstrate superior damping and stiffness in vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) foams that are also independently controllable by exploiting their synthesis-tailored structural hierarchy and structural gradients. They exhibit frequency- and amplitude-dependent responses with dramatically tunable dynamic stiffness while maintaining constant damping.

A Postdoctoral Research Associate Position is available in Professor R. Thevamaran's laboratory at the Department of Engineering Physics to study the dynamic behavior and properties of nanostructured metals and hierarchical materials. A strong background in experimental solid mechanics and materials science is required for this research.

I'm posting a few experimental studies we have conducted on the dynamic behavior of hierarchical fibrous materials, using vertically aligned carbon nanotubes as a model material. I hope these will be useful to those who are interested in buckle-instabilities, multiscale behavior, and energy absorption mechanisms.

An overview:

As part of the 12th Pan American Congress of Applied Mechanics (PACAM XII) to be held in Port of Spain, Trinidad, from Jan. 2 to 6, 2012, it is our pleasure to invite you to submit an abstract to the Symposium “Multiscale modeling and simulation of complex materials and systems”.