This area involves study and research in mechanics of composite materials, fracture mechanics, nano and micromechanics of materials, biomaterials, soft materials, constitutive equations, mechanical behavior at high strain rates, structural analysis, and structural stability.
Experimental facilities include equipment for static structural testing; digital data acquisition equipment; uniaxial and biaxial materials-testing machines; custom loading devices; environmental chambers; microscopes; photomechanics facilities; composites processing equipment; facilities for microstructural analysis; and high-speed imaging and high strain rate mechanical testing facilities. Equipment for nano and microscale scale experiments include an atomic force microscope, an interfacial force microscope, a nano indentor, a confocal microscope and an X-ray tomography device. Computing facilities include workstations, high-performance computers, and networks of workstations.
