Several methods have been proposed for numerical homogeniation of linear viscoelastic materials, mainly based on Laplace transform or on multilevel (FE^2) approaches. In this paper, we introduce a much simpler technique based on a discrete representation of the effective relaxation tensor related to the homogeneous medium, which can then be used to evaluate the constitutive law in the form of a convolution product. In practice, calculations on the RVE reduce to 3 transient simulations in 2D and 6  in 3D. More details in

The Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh anticipates an opening for a postdoctoral associate starting January 2012. The position’s primary area of research will focus on mechanics of micro-scale deformation processes and characterizing the thermomechanics of deformation at micrometer length-scales. Applicants with a strong background in computational solid mechanics and crystal plasticity will be preferred. 

Interested Applicants are requested to Email their CV to:  ravishm [at] pitt [dot] edu 

Dear My friends:

‚Source truncation and exhaustion: Insights from quantitative in-situ
TEM tensile testing' by D. Kiener and A.M. Minor (http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl201890s).

We recently published two papers that present an optimization method to design multi-layer composites with damping properties. The method consists in adding elastomeric layers in the composite. In this way, a multi-criteria optimization tool has been developed to determine the best geometrical and material properties of the composite: position of the elastomeric layers, layers thickness, ...

Two new books:

M. Nosonovsky and P.K.Rohatgi Biomimetics in Materials Science:
Self-healing, self-lubricating, and self-cleaning materials (Springer
Series in Materials Science, Vol. 152, 2011, Hardcover, ISBN
978-1-4614-0925-0)

M. Nosonovsky and B. Bhushan (eds.), Green Tribology Biomimetics, Energy
Conservation, and Sustainability (Springer Series: Green Energy and
Technology, 2011, Hardcover, ISBN 978-3-642-23680-8 )

We develop a method of poroelastic relaxation indentation (PRI) to characterize thin layers of gels.  The solution to the time-dependent boundary-value problem is obtained in a remarkably simple form, so that the force-relaxation curve obtained by indenting a gel readily determines all the poroelastic constants of the gel—the shear modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and the effective diffusivity.  The method is demonstrated with a layer of polydimethylsiloxane immersed in heptane.

hi I am a student of mechanical engineering, Isfahan university of technology in master degree and the title of my thesis is:Rapid crack propagation in pressurized pipe

in order to use Abaqus X-fem for simulation of cracked pipe I have some essential questions :

1)Can I simulate rapid crack propagation of this geometry in Xfem? (with attention to the geometry of a pipe)

2)Is Xfem able to analyze Ductile fracture?

3)Is Xfem able to use larg deformation theory?

Dear colleague,   

The fourth issue in 2011 (Volume 24, Issue 4) of Acta Mechanica Solida Sinica (AMSS) is now online. 

Welcome to this SCI-indexed journal <http://ees.elsevier.com/camss/&gt; for rapid publication of your exciting results.

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