A Mechanics Perspective in Understanding Incubation & Initiation of Ductile Fracture
Antonios Kontsos, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics Dept.
Drexel University
Thursday, Sept. 21, 10:45 am
Milner Executive Boardroom (0560 MEK)
Public Welcome!
Abstract: Two recent science and technology developments allow a renewed viewpoint in understanding material structure-properties-behavior relationships, which is in general challenging due to the several time and length scales involved. First, the widespread use of material characterization equipment capable to zoom into the structure of matter and reveal effects in almost real testing time. The second relates to the development of testing tools coupled with novel computational methods that are capable to explore the spatial and temporal degrees of freedom involved when investigating the behavior of materials. In this context, this talk will attempt to demonstrate that classical topics of solid mechanics such as the ones involving ductile fracture can now be revisited with the intent to better understand both physically and mechanistically relationships between material structure and multiscale behavior. To demonstrate elements of this new era in the field of mechanics this talk will show how the combination of mechanical testing at several scales coupled with material characterization and monitoring of structural and behavioral changes can assist in the development of both theoretical knowledge and practical engineering insights into what happens when fracture initiates as well as what precedes this state of incipient failure. A particular aluminum alloy class is used for demonstration purposes while the results are cast into a more generic engineering framework created to link diagnostics with prognostics.
Bio: Dr. Antonios Kontsos is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics Department at Drexel University and he is currently the Director of the Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Group (TAMG) and the Assistant Director of the Center for Functional Fabrics. He received his undergraduate 5-year Diploma (2002) in Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics from University of Patras (Greece), and his M.S (2005) and Ph.D. (2007) degrees in Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science from Rice University (Houston, TX). Before joining Drexel in 2009, Dr. Kontsos held a post-doc position at the Center for Mechanics of Solids, Structures and Materials in the Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics Department at the University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX). Dr. Kontsos’s primary research interest is in the theoretical, experimental and computational investigation of the mechanical behavior of materials with emphasis on understanding on evolving microstructure-properties-behavior relationships.