Mechanics of materials focuses on quantitative description of the motion and deformation of solid materials subjected to forces, temperature changes, electrical voltage or other external stimuli.

At CU, we apply theoretical modeling, computational simulation and experimental characterization to study a range of soft materials, from biological tissues and gels to smart polymers. Our applications cover a long list of current and emerging technologies including tissue engineering, membrane filtration, stretchable electronics, smart materials, medical robots, and innovative surgical devices.听

Area Strengths

  • Computational mechanics of soft colloidal particles
  • Multiscale modeling of growth in engineered tissues
  • Mechanics of stretchable electronics
  • Smart surface wrinkling
  • Fracture and damage mechanics in soft materials
  • Highly Stretchable, self-healing elastomers
  • Stretch dependence of the electrical breakdown strength of elastomers
  • Continuum mechanics of soft adaptable polymers
  • Poro-thermo-mechanical modeling of soft tissue for surgical fusion
  • Adhesive and frictional contact mechanics of micro-structured surface and soft tissue
  • Mechanics of reconfigurable, smart polymer particles and surfaces
  • Fracture and damage mechanics of polymeric materials
  • Mechanics of contact, adhesion and friction for soft materials
  • Correlative analysis of nano/micromechanics with chemistry and structure in tissues and biomaterials听
  • Additive manufacturing of micrometer-sized stiff hydrogel structures for tissue engineering