Blog posts

Cracks generate the largest strain gradients that any material can withstand. Flexoelectricity (coupling between strain gradient and polarization) must therefore play an important role in fracture physics. Here we use a self-consistent continuum model to evidence two consequences of flexoelectricity in fracture: the resistance to fracture increases as structural size decreases, and it becomes asymmetric with respect to the sign of polarization. The latter phenomenon manifests itself in a range of intermediate sizes where piezo- and flexoelectricity compete.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University (http://me.stanford.edu/) invites applications for a tenure-track faculty appointment at the junior level (Assistant or untenured Associate Professor). Applications will be reviewed across all disciplines of mechanical engineering. As part of recent strategic planning, the department has identified special hiring needs and opportunities in controls, robotics, manufacturing, and biomedical engineering.

Non-destructive testing (NDT) refers to techniques that are used in the life-cycle of a structural component to investigate their quality, functionality and 'health' without destroying the object, nor affecting its properties. The continuous development of more advanced materials, like fiber reinforced plastics, requires new and more sophisticated NDT techniques. One such an innovative NDT technique is the Ultrasonic Polar Scan (UPS) which has recently been developed, both experimentally and numerically, in our research group.

The core idea of this fundamental research project is to develop a consistent multi-scale modelling framework for fatigue damage in unidirectionally reinforced composites. Three scales are distinguished: (i) the micro-scale, where individual fibre filaments are arranged in a polymer matrix.

Applications are sought from very strong and motivated gradaute students intending to puruse PhD studies in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, UBC, Vancouver, Canada. The areas of immeidate interest are (a) Elastodynamics of lattice materials and phononic crystals, (b) mechanics of nanomaterials and   (c) Friction induced  nonlinear vibrations. Please see  http://dalubc.wordpress.com for full description and recent publications from our group.

Additive manufacturing (AM) has emerged as a powerful technique for manufacturing of various types of biomaterials and implants. Using AM, it is now possible to fabricate biomaterials with arbitrarily complex shapes at different scales. The inventory of biomaterials that can be used in this way continues to increase, extending the possible range of products and applications.