Presidential Young Investigator Award: Fracture Mechanics and Plasticity

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This award supports research in analytical solid mechanics, with principal areas of specialization being fracture mechanics and plasticity. Much of this research is directed toward the development of the theoretical foundations of non-linear fracture mechanics. A principal thrust is the analysis and prediction of stable crack growth and its transition to catastrophic fracture in elastic-plastic materials. One objective is to develop an approximate analytical method for assessing how different loadings and specimens affect near-tip elastic-plastic fields. Crack growth and instability criteria are then based on the near-tip fields derived. An ultimate goal is to develop analytical criteria capable of predicting ductile crack growth throughout the range from initial well-contained yielding up through large-scale and general yielding.