Fully funded Ph.D. positions are available in the Department
of Mechanical Engineering & Engineering Science at the University of North
Carolina at Charlotte. The research focus will be on developing and using multiscale methods for modeling nanocomposites and nanomaterials. Candidates should have a BS or MS degree in
mechanical engineering, material science, civil engineering or other related
areas. Computational experience at the continuum or molecular level is
preferred but is not necessary.  Interested
candidates please send a CV to atabarra@uncc.edu

I am seeking candidates in the field of Composites Modelling, interested in applying for any of the following schemes, which have closing dates in August 2011:

Dear iMechanica community,

Hi,

The Irish Research Council (http://www.ircset.ie/tabid/64/default.aspx) has a funding scheme for postdoctoral researchers. I am seeking someone to submit an application to IRCSET to obtain funding to work within my group, in Modelling of CNT-based nanocomposites. The chances of success are high for candidates with a good research record. The deadline for applications is December 8th.

If you have experience in this area, and are available to start work as a postdoctoral researcher in Ireland in summer 2011, please send me a CV (michael.mccarthy@ul.ie).

Dear All,

I've got to start teaching a masters level programme on nanocomposites, well 7 lectures worth of one anyway. It will serve as an introduction to NCs and briefly review the current stat of the art.

I would like opinions on textbooks to accompany such a module.

Any of you had any good experiences with any particular books ?

Thanks,

Chris

The Eighteenth Annual International Conference on
COMPOSITES/NANO ENGINEERING (ICCE - 18)
ICCE-18 Anchorage, Alaska,USA, July 4-10, 2010
http://myweb.polyu.edu.hk/~mmktlau/ICCE/ICCE_Main.htm

Message from ICCE Chairman

Hi everybody,

do you know where I can find some informations about the relation

between particle size and critical normal stress at the interface particle /matrix

for a particle embedded in a matrix?

I read the Chen's article 'Size effect of particles on the damage dissipation in nanocomposites'

but this article deals with spherical particles. I am studying clay/matrix nanocomposites and I would like to

calculate the relation between clay size and debonding stress.

Thanks,

Cecilia

Hi everybody,

do you know where I can find some informations about the relation

between particle size and critical normal stress at the interface particle /matrix

for a particle embedded in a matrix?

I read the Chen's article 'Size effect of particles on the damage dissipation in nanocomposites'

but this article deals with spherical particles. I am studying clay/matrix nanocomposites and I would like to

calculate the relation between clay size and debonding stress.

Cecilia

A post-doc position is available at the University of Notre Dame in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. The project focuses on nanocomposite deformation modeling and performing corresponding experiments using primarily atomic force microscope and X-ray diffractometer. Initial position is for one-year and is extensible for another year contingent upon continued funding. The position offers attractive collaborative opportunities with national labs and material synthesis groups across different universities. Salary is negotiable. Please contact me (vikas.tomar@nd.edu) for more details. The tentative start date is May 01, 2008. Thank You.

Are not as high as we expected although very stiff and strong nanotubes or nanofibers (Young’s modulus E~1000GPa) are added into soft polymer matrices like epoxy (E~4GPa).  In our early investigation on the  systematic mechanical property characterizations of nanocomposites (Xu et al., Journal of Composite Materials, 2004--among top 5 in 2005;and top 10 in 2006 of the Most-Frequently-Read Articles in Journal of Composite Materials.) have shown that there was a very small increase (sometimes even decrease) of critical ultimate tensile/bending strengths, and mode-I fracture toughnesses in spite of complete chemical treatments of the interfacial bonding area, and uniform dispersions of nanofibers (click to view a TEM image). Similar experimental results were often reported in recent years. Therefore, mechanics analysis is extremely valuable before we make these “expensive” nanocomposite materials. Our goal is to provide in-depth mechanics insight, and future directions for nanocomposite development. Till now, nanocomposite materials are promising as multi-functional materials, rather than structural materials. Here we mainly focus on two critical parameters for structural materials: tensile strength and fracture toughness. We notice that other mechanical parameters such as compressive strengths and Young’s moduli of nanocomposite materials have slight increase over their matrices.

Recently, J. Wang, L. Sun and I have formulated some ideas about the effective properties of heterogeneous materials with surface/interface energy effect, which are shown in the attached file.

Papers in the attached file can be viewed as a two-part paper, called “Multi-phase hyperelasticity with interface energy effect” if it is standalone. Part one of this topic is covered in “A theory of hyperelasticity of multi-phase media with surface/interface energy effect”, which provides theoretical background. Part two is covered in “Size-dependent effective properties of a heterogeneous material with interface energy effect: from finite deformation theory to infinitesimal strain analysis”, with more emphasis on application.