Due to the intensive decrease in grain sizes of nanocrystalline materials (NcMs), a large volume fraction of atoms reside in the interface regions between crystals forming an atom-cloud phase with a distinct atomic structure. Moreover, the surface to volume ratio of the grain increases, thus its surface energy will significantly affect the mechanical properties of NcMs.
We are seeking to hire outstanding candidates for a post-doctoral research position in
the Koslowski’s group at Purdue University to work on dislocation dynamics and/or
continuum modeling of plasticity. The project involves developing and applying
numerical methods to study creep and plastic deformation in nano and ultrafine
crystalline materials. Successful candidates will have the opportunity to interact with a
wide range of experimentalists and theoreticians in academia, industry and national labs.
Dear Colleagues,
The deadline for abstract submission has been extended to May 2, 2012 for the 49th SES Meeting. Dan Gianola and I are hosting a symposium on the Mechanics of Crystalline Nanostructures, and would like to solicit abstracts for oral presentations.
If you are interested in presenting your work, please go to the conference website to submit an abstract:
Sincerely,
Dear Colleagues,
We would like to bring your attention to the Mechanics of Crystalline Nanostructures Symposium at the 49th Society of Engineering Science (SES) Meeting at Georgia Tech on October 10-12, 2012.
September 10, 2012 — September 14, 2012
at
International Centre for Mechanical Sciences (CISM), Udine , ITALY
http://www.cism.it/courses/C1210/
Coordinators:
My coworkers (Dan Gianola, Yixiang Gan, and Kevin Hemker) and I have published research results in the December 18th, 2009 issue of Science. In this work, we perform tension tests on specially designed thin film samples to studying the influence of different stress and strain states on mechanically-induced grain growth in nanocrystalline aluminum. Our results indicate that shear stresses drive grain boundaries to move in a manner consistent with recent molecular dynamics simulations and theoretical predictions of coupled grain boundary migration.
As stated by Richard Vinci and Oliver Kraft in the announcement of 2008 Gordon Research Conference on Thin Film and Small-Scale Mechanical Behavior, there is a compelling need to understand the critical roles of different deformation mechanisms in structures with small characteristic dimensions, like nanocrystals and thin films. We have recently studied deformation behaviors in nanostructured materials and thin films with deformation mechanisms including grain-boundary diffusion, grain-boundary sliding, and grain-interior plasticity. Some interesting mechanical phenomena associated with heterogeneous grain-boundary properties are found and summarized here.
