Our Mechanics and Materials group includes an interdisciplinary spectrum of research concerned with the study of deformation, fracture, fatigue, and failure of solids at different time and length scales (from atoms to planets) through advanced analytical, computational, and experimental techniques.

Our research portfolio addresses multiple material systems, such as metals, polymers, ceramics, soft materials, biomaterials, active materials, composites, and geological and planetary materials.

Current research directions include but are not limited to: fatigue crack initiation, hydrogen embrittlement, hypervelocity impact, shocks and wave propagation, nanomaterials, constitutive modeling, damage evolution, failure prediction, nonlinear mechanics of solids, thermal barrier coatings, high-strain-rate behavior and dynamic failure processes, deformation and failure mechanisms across multiple scales, growth and remodeling of fibrous soft tissues, planetary impact, asteroid disruption, injury biomechanics, and in situ testing of materials.

Specialties

  • Materials and Structures Under Extreme Conditions
  • Additive Manufacturing and Architected Materials
  • Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics
  • Bioinspired Materials and Mechanical Systems
  • Nanomaterials

Faculty

Affiliated Faculty

  • Stephen Belkoff
  • Todd Hufnagel
  • Somnath Ghosh
  • Lori Graham-Brady
  • Mark Robbins
  • Pazhayannur Swaminathan
  • John Thomas
  • Timothy Weihs

“We take apart the very first instants of destruction and use them to make the world a safer place. ”

Kaliat (K.T.) Ramesh Director, Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute

Affiliated Groups, Centers, and Institutes

Mechanics and Materials

Creating the building blocks for engineering

Pinpointing Cracks in Metal Before Catastrophes - “We’re able now to have a more fundamental understanding about what leads up to cracks,”says Jafaar El-Awady. “The practical implication is that this method allows us to understand and predict when or how the material is going to fail.”

A 3D-printed Ventilator Splitter - The prototype, developed in response to the urgent need for more ventilators to treat patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by COVID-19, aims to address safety concerns about cross-contamination and correctly managing air flow to patients

Breaking Up is Hard to Do - Scientists model scenarios for breaking up or interrupting the path of asteroids on a collision course with Earth.

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