NURBS

The current development of the isogeometric approach in various fields of mechanics is explained by the high-accuracy results which can be achieved at a reduced computational cost by codes based on non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS). In the case of strongly curved beams the simple diagonal de Saint-Venant’s constitutive model can lead to significant errors as it has been reported in the classic literature. Other models such as Winkler’s have been proposed and seem more suitable for these kinds of structures.

The word "extreme" seems to be "trending" a lot these days, see the recent discussions on the new journal Extreme Mechanics Letters.

My collaborator Ruben Sevilla at Swansea and I were interested in very curved crack paths that develop in nature and have been replicated experimentally in thin films attached to elastic substrates.

Elsevier is pleased to announce that Professor Thomas Hughes will be presenting 'Isogeometric Analysis', the Mechanics Research Communications Elsevier Distinguished Lecture (sponsored by Elsevier and the New Jersey Institute of Technology Granular Science Laboratory). The lecture will take place in the Guttenberg Information Technologies Center, NJIT, on Wednesday April 18, 2012, 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. and we are hoping to post it on the web at a later date. Full details are available at