♦ Mechanics of soft mechanical metamaterials
We focus on mechanics of innovative soft hybrid micro/nano-architectured mechanical metamaterials with unique mechanical properties such as negative Poisson’s ratio, negative stiffness, and superior energy absorption capabilities.
♦ Bio-inspired design, mechanics, and biomimetics
Many natural systems have evolved and adapted to optimize their functional performance by making efficient use of available resources, and utilizing a large variety of innovative mechanisms. Inspired by these interesting biological systems in nature, new materials with unique mechanical properties will be designed and the mechanics behind it will be discovered.
♦ 3D printing and mechanical experiments
Innovative materials samples are designed and fabricated via a multi-material 3D printer. Then new mechanical experiments and fixtures are also designed and performed to evaluate the mechanical performance of the new designs.
♦ Instability of materials and structures
Instability is a very enriched topic in mechanics, mathematics and physics. We worked on theoretical, numerical and experimental investigations of instability of all kinds of materials and structures across all length scales.
♦ Fracture and damage mechanics
We focus on developing damage mechanics model and mixed-mode failure criteria for all kinds of materials, including metals, polymers and natural and synthetic composites across all length scales. User subroutines are developed to simulate the failure of materials.
♦ Generalized continuum mechanics
We work on developing/applying higher order continuum theories beyond classic continuum mechanics. These theories include micro-polar and non-local elasticity and plasticity. The higher order continuum theory is important to model the constitutive behavior of both biological materials and engineered materials in micro/nano scale.