University of Wisconsin Theoretical & Computational Mechanics of Materials Group
The design, use, and computational representation of structural components for applications involving complex and/or extreme loading conditions remains a key research area. The basis for building this capability rests on our physical understanding and hypotheses of the physical processes involved in material deformation. Our understanding and hypotheses of physical deformation mechanisms motivate the form of the mathematical framework used to represent material deformation by physical models. At these early stages of understanding and modeling structural evolution in materials for complex and/or extreme structural loading, the nature of the work necessary to make significant advancements must be based upon a fundamental coupling of mathematics, materials science, and theoretical/computational mechanics of materials. It is recognized that structural evolution in materials in a spatial sense is an extreme-event process and must be described by the appropriate mathematics. This research can also form the fundamental basis for the design of materials for targeted performance depending upon application area. This is an exciting time to work in the field of Theoretical and Computational Mechanics of Materials.
The vision for our work here in the Theoretical & Computational Mechanics of Materials Group at the University of Wisconsin is to offer a new approach to the study and prediction of multi-physics events taking place within materials exposed to conditions of extreme loading. The physical theories which presume to represent coupled behavior are based upon knowledge and hypotheses developed through physical insight gained from experiments, physics simulations, and collected experience comparing simulations with experimental results. This continuous improvement process for advancing our ability to predict responses of materials to complex and/or extreme loading conditions is the basis for a strategy coupling simultaneous advancements in theory, experiment, and computation. The nucleation, growth, and impingement/coalescence progression of both phase transformation and damage are challenging topics to explore under the loading conditions of interest. The rate of change of dislocation structure, deformation twinning, structural phase change and damage are intimately linked with the nature of the nucleated field of each deformation mechanism. The nucleated field is very difficult to interrogate experimentally, and supplementation of insight gained via computational results are critical to enable tangible and timely progress. We propose to address the extreme events of plasticity, phase change and damage through the development of an extreme-event methodology and mathematics tools. With this, our goal is to eventually engage large datasets of experimental and computational information to rigorously guide our learning process and enable simultaneous use of different types of information self-consistently.
We invite you to reach out to us to discuss our work further via email to the addresses listed on the Group Members page.