Around 20 years ago, I gave a fracture mechanics lecture and talked about crack initiation that happens in the plane with the largest tensile stress. True, at least if the material has isotropic properties. The students already knew where an isotropic material would give the largest stress at bending and torsion. I planned to make a desktop experiment with an icicle and a carrot. This was during the autumn with an abundance of icicles everywhere. The carrot, I found at home.

We are looking for enthusiastic students with a MSc or BSc degree to conduct research in the area of materials characterization and advanced nuclear fuels. Students with a degree in any of the following disciplines are encouraged to apply:

•         mechanical engineering
•          materials science and engineering
•          physics

Prospective candidates will be assessed based on how well they meet the following criteria:

Applications are invited for a 2-year postdoc position in the area of finite element modeling of advanced nuclear fuels. This position is a full-time position at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and the selected applicant can start effective immediately.

Applications are invited for a 2-year postdoc position in the area of molecular dynamic simulation of irradiation effects. This position is a full-time position at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and the selected applicant can start effective immediately. In addition, this position is extendable for two more years, depending on the availability of funds and the applicant’s performance.

Following the previous Blog entry on 3D fracture and out-of-plane crack structures: the essential role of material disorder, we add here a related manuscript (see also attached PDF):

Size selection of crack front defects: Multiple fracture-plane interactions and intrinsic lengthscales

Many engineering disciplines, especially fluid and solid mechanics, require a solid understanding of complex analysis. We are thrilled to share that "Theory of Functions of a Complex Variable" by Richard Courant has been thoroughly revived, and upgraded, and is now freely accessible on AdaptiveBooks.org.

A position exists, for a Research Assistant/Associate in the Department of Engineering, to work on Batteries. The post holder will be located in Central Cambridge Cambridgeshire, UK.

EML Webinar (Young Researchers Forum) on 18 April 2024 will be given by Tongqing Lu at Xi'an Jiaotong University

Title: High throughput rupture experiments of soft materials

Discussion leader: Zhigang Suo, Harvard University

Time: 10:00 am Boston, 3:00 pm London, 4:00 pm Paris, 10:00 pm Beijing on Thursday, 18 April 2024

Postdoc positions are immediately available in the School of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (First Class Academic Discipline) at Central South University in Dr. Li's research group. Lists of topics of interest are:

1. Impact Fatigue;

2. Fluid and structure interaction;

3. Rain Erosion  

4. Fatigue of composite materials and joints

In classical experiments, it has been found that a rigid cylinder can roll both on and under an inclined rubber plane with a friction force that depends on a power law of velocity, independent of the sign of the normal force. Further, contact area increases significantly with velocity with a related power law. We try to model qualitatively these experiments with a numerical boundary element solution with a standard linear solid and we find for sufficiently large Maugis–Tabor parameter � qualitative agreement with experiments.