Blog posts
Griffith controversy
Using the Griffith energy method for analysis of cavitation under hydrostatic tension we conclude that the critical tension tends to infinity when the cavity radius approaches zero (IJSS, 2006, doi: 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2006.12.022). The conclusion is physically meaningless, of course. Moreover, if we assume that the failure process occurs at the edge of the cavity then the critical tension should be length-independent for small but finite cavities while the Griffith analysis always exhibits length-dependence. The main Griffith idea - introduction of the surface energy - is controversial because it sets up the characteristic length, say, surface energy over volume energy. By no means is this approach in peace with the length-independent classical continuum mechanics.
Is rest of the world catching up with us? Perspective from Physical Review Letters...
I had posted this on the amd blog...I am posting it here as well:
Last year I attended the annual American Physical Society conference held in Baltimore (during the week of March 13th). One of the non-technical sessions included presentations by the APS journal editors--Physical Review A/B/C/D/E and Letters---and a panel discussion related to these journals. Since many of our mechanics and materials colleagues nowadays are interested in publishing in these journals, I thought I should post a link to some of the slides (from the editors presentation) that I found interesting. Many of the slides presented at APS are in the linked pdf file that also includes additional (humorous slides!) regarding reviewer issues.
The Ranking of Mechanics Related Journals (2004)
Based on a survey from Journal Citation Report (JCR), we listed below the 2004 Journal Impact Factors (IF) for some mechanics, material science, and solid state physics related scientific journals. Our list and information may not be complete. We welcome readers' input, comments, and information. We also caution readers that using IF as the sole criterion to rank scientific journals' academic reputation may not be objective nor true to a journal's actual scientific merits.
Nanoscience Initiative Workshop
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and National Science Council (NSC) in Taiwan are pleased to announce that the 4th U.S. Air Force/Taiwan Nanoscience and Nanotechnology workshop will be held on February 8-9, 2007 at the main campus of the University of Houston. We invite you to join us at the workshop.
nevermind, it's the resolution on Acrobat Reader
Thank you very much to all of those who responded to my question; it turns out that it is my Acrobat Reader resolution that is at fault rather than a LaTeX issue.
But in any regard if there are any suggested LaTeX packages (I have found a few good ones with queries on Google) I'd love to hear about it.
Thanks again!
--Elizabeth
Nonlinear stick-spiral model for predicting mechanical behavior of single-walled carbon nanotubes
(PRB,74,245428,2006) Based on a molecular mechanics concept, a nonlinear stick-spiral model is developed to investigate the mechanical behavior of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The model is capable of predicting not only the initial elastic properties (e.g., Young’s modulus) but also the stress-strain relations of a SWCNT under axial, radial, and torsion conditions. The elastic properties, ultimate stress, and failure strain under various loading conditions are discussed and special attentions have been paid to the effects of the tube chirality and tube size. Some unique mechanical behaviors of chiral SWCNTs, such as axial strain-induced torsion, circumferential strain-induced torsion, and shear strain-induced extension are also studied. The predicted results from the present model are in good agreement with existing data, but very little computational cost is needed to yield them.