research

EML Webinar (Young Researchers Forum) on 2 July 2024 will be given by Mingchao Liu at the University of Birmingham

Title: Morphing and moving matter: mimicking nature

A dream came true, and the fifth submission of this networking project to COST Association was approved for funding.

It will start from November 2024 for the total duration of 4 years. The broad cooperation will focus on developing tools and data sets, which can streamline research and validation of fatigue estimation criteria.

Please join us for next seminar presented by Yakov Zelickman. Dr. Yakov Zelickman from Johns Hopkins University will present their latest research on the design and optimization of sustainable structures.

Dear colleagues, I would like to share our new article (open access) that presents length scale insensitive phase-field fracture models for brittle and ductile fracture to address the deficiencies of the widely implemented models which over-estimate crack dissipation. 

W. Huber and M. Asle Zaeem. Length scale insensitive phase-field fracture methodology for brittle and ductile materials. Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics 133 (2024) 104500.

Dear colleagues, our new article (open access) is just published in Acta Materialia. In this research, we provide new insights into the mechanism of ferroelastic deformation by studying the evolution of domains in different microstructure patterns and under different loading directions and strain rates.

A. Bhattacharya and M. Asle Zaeem. A phase-field model for study of ferroelastic deformation behavior in yttria stabilized zirconia. Acta Materialia (2024) 120039.

Morphing soft matter, which is capable of changing its shape and function in response to stimuli, has wide-ranging applications in robotics, medicine and biology. Recently, computational models have accelerated its development. Here, we highlight advances and challenges in developing computational techniques, and explore the potential applications enabled by such models.

Yifan Yang, Fan Xu*

Nature Computational Science, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-024-00647-y

For a given class of materials, universal deformations are those deformations that can be maintained in the absence of body forces and by applying solely boundary tractions. For inhomogeneous bodies, in addition to the universality constraints that determine the universal deformations, there are extra constraints on the form of the material inhomogeneities—universal inhomogeneity constraints. Those inhomogeneities compatible with the universal inhomogeneity constraints are called universal inhomogeneities.

This study presents a comprehensive exploration of Peridynamic (PD) theory, with a specific focus on its theoretical foundations and practical implementations, including various PD formulations and PD operators. The objective is to highlight the unique attributes of each PD formulation and assess their suitability in the framework of material failure simulations by providing an extensive literature review.

PhD position(s) is available for Fall 2024 or Spring 2025 in the Engineering Mechanics program in the Aerospace Engineering Department at Iowa State University (USA) to perform the theoretical and computational part of work on NSF- and ARO-funded projects on the interaction between phase transformations and plasticity at high pressures. Phase-field, micromechanical, and macroscale simulations using FEM are of interest in close collaboration with high-pressure experiments performed in our lab and at governmental synchrotron radiation facilities. MS degree is required.

It is widely acknowledged that fluidelastic instability (FEI), among other mechanisms, is of the greatest concern in the flow-induced vibration (FIV) of tube bundles in steam generators and heat exchangers. A range of theoretical models have been developed for FEI analysis, and, in addition to the earliest semi-empirical Connors’ model, the unsteady model, the quasi-steady model and the semi-analytical model are believed to be three advanced models predominant in the literature.

The Ocean Engineering Structures and Extreme Material Laboratory (OESEM) of the Department of Ocean Engineering at the Texas A&M University, Galveston has an opening for 1-year Postdoc position (which may be extended anually upon contract renewal) to conduct research in the areas of computational fracture modeling and fluid-structure interaction (FSI) of gaseous mixtures starting in July 2024.

Abstract: The present study aims to develop a continuum-based model to predict the pseudoelastic behavior of biological composites subjected to finite plane elastostatics. The proposed model incorporates a hyperelastic matrix material reinforced with nonlinear fibers, addressing challenges such as irreversible softening responses, large deformations, and nonlinear stress–strain responses.

Published in Materials Today Physics: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542529324001330

The importance of fluidelastic forces in flow-excited vibrations is crucial, in view of their damaging potential. Flow-coupling coefficients are often experimentally obtained from vibration experiments, performed within a limited experimental frequency range. For any given flow velocity, these coefficients are typically frequency-dependent, as amply documented in the literature since the seminal work of Tanaka and Takahara.

Dear Colleagues,

I invite you to read our recent study published in the Physical Review Applied: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.21.054022

Abstract:

Published in Journal of Applied Physics: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0201522

The premature failure of shape memory ceramics (SMCs) under cyclic loading is a critical issue limiting their applications as actuators and thermal protection layers. Martensitic phase transformation (MPT), essential for superelasticity and shape memory functionalities in SMCs, induces localized plastic deformations due to phase expansion. In polycrystalline materials, the accumulation of localized plastic strain serves as the primary mechanism for fatigue crack initiation under cyclic loading.

Dear Colleagues,

I am sharing a recent paper titled "Violation of the Cauchy-Born Rule in multi-principal element alloys" published in Applied Physics Letters. Here is the link to the paper: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0204091

Sharing a new article "Finite element implementation of Field Crack Mechanics for brittle and ductile fracture" by my Ph.D. student BVSS Bharadwaja at IIT Bombay, which has been accepted for publication in Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics. Also see attached. Thanks to Prof. Amit Acharya for the motivation and discussion.

It is my pleasure to share a new article titled "An Experimentally Informed Continuum Grain Boundary Model" by Syed Ansari (my Ph.D. student at IIT Bombay). This work was performed in collaboration with Prof. Amit Acharya.

An immediate Ph.D. position is available in the Control, Automation, and Mechatronics (CAM) lab at Kent State University, Kent, OH. The program is housed within the College of Aeronautics and Engineering and focuses on Mechatronics Engineering. Ideal candidates will need to have completed their master’s degree in electrical, mechanical, or mechatronics engineering by the end of 202. They must possess a strong foundation in controls and machine learning, along with proficient programming skills in Python and MATLAB.

Dear colleagues, 

We invite you to read our article, which informs one about the extent to which resonances can be tuned in metamaterials. More precisely, our work provides tight bounds correlating the Quality-factor with peak absorption in dielectric metamaterials. The article is published in Applied Physics Letters and can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0155092 

Following the previous Blog entry on 3D fracture and out-of-plane crack structures: the essential role of material disorder, we add here a related manuscript (see also attached PDF):

Size selection of crack front defects: Multiple fracture-plane interactions and intrinsic lengthscales