Fluid and Solid Mechanics
Mechanics researchers apply theoretical, experimental and computational methods to expand the understanding of complex physical phenomenon. Areas of active research include contact mechanics, nonlinear vibrations and system identification, elastic instabilities, micromechanics, wave propagation, adhesion and friction, multi-scale and high-performance computational modeling, multi-physics mechanics and transport, biophysics, nanotechnology and nanomaterials, micro and nano-fluidics, mechanics of soft materials, bio-inspired materials, polymer thin-films, and acoustic/elastic metamaterials.
Faculty
- Riccardo Bonazza – gas dynamics, shock waves
- Curt Bronkhorst – mechanics of materials, computational mechanics
- Wendy Crone – solid mechanics, biomechanics
- Melih Eriten – contact mechanics/tribology, mechanics of soft/biological materials
- Christian Franck – experimental mechanics, traumatic brain injury
- Jennifer Franck – fluid mechanics, computational fluid mechanics
- Prateek Jaiswal – aeroacoustics, experimental fluid mechanics, renewable energy
- Tom Krupenkin – nanotechnology, micro and nano fluidics, renewable energy
- Ying Li – mechanics of materials, polymer physics
- Jacob Notbohm – mechanics of soft materials
- Pavana Prabhakar – composites, advanced manufacturing
- Shiva Rudraraju – multiphysics and multiscale modeling
- Stephan Rudykh – soft materials, magnetoactive materials
- Krishnan Suresh – topology optimization, finite element
- Ramathasan Thevamaran – hierarchical and nanostructured materials
Affiliate Faculty
Laboratories and Centers
Riccardo Bonazza
Wisconsin Shock Tube Laboratory WiSTL
Prof. Riccardo Bonazza’s interests are in the experimental investigation of impulsive, unsteady fluid flows such as shock-interface interactions, shock-driven mixing, and shock-initiated combustion.
Curt Bronkhorst
Theoretical & Computational Mechanics of Materials Group
The vision for work in Prof. Bronkhorst’s group is to offer a new approach to the study and prediction of multi-physics events taking place within materials exposed to conditions of extreme loading.
Wendy Crone
Crone Research Group
Prof. Crone studies biomechanics at the cellular and multicellular scales. Her lab has developed a platform that allows the production of a range of micropatterns on substrates of varying stiffness to study cardiomyocytes (CMs) and skeletal muscle cells differentiated from stem cells.
Melih Eriten
Eriten Research Group
The Eriten Research Group conducts research that involves the study of Contact Mechanics, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Advanced Modeling and Simulations. Laboratory activity focuses on a Multiscale approach involving the following three areas: Materials modeling, Experiments and diagnostics, and System identification and modeling.
Christian Franck
Franck Lab
The Franck Lab is an experimental mechanics laboratory specializing in the development of new experimental techniques at the micro- and nanoscale. Their goal is to provide unprecedented full-field 3D access to real-time imaging and deformation measurements in complex soft matter and cellular systems.
Jennifer Franck
Computational Flow Physics and Modeling
Prof. Franck’s research group investigates the dynamics and physics of unsteady fluid flows. They utilize and develop various computational techniques, mostly using high-performance computing centers, to simulate complex, three-dimensional, and turbulent flows with applications in aeronautics, propulsion, and renewable wind/tidal energy.
Ying Li
Computational Materials Design Lab
Dr. Li’s current research interests in the Computational Materials Design Lab are: multiscale modeling, computational materials design, mechanics and physics of polymers, and machine learning-accelerated polymer design.
Jacob Notbohm
Notbohm Research Group
The Notbohm Research Group studies mechanics of soft materials. Current areas of interest are in mechanics of fibrous materials, cell-matrix interactions, and collective cell migration. This work draws on the fields of engineering mechanics, soft matter physics, applied math, and cell biology.
Pavana Prabhakar
Manufacturing and Mechanics Laboratory
Prof. Prabhakar’s group works on unraveling the mechanics of failure in reinforced composites under multi-physics environments, including extreme temperatures, moisture, salinity, and microbes. The aim is to enable damage-tolerant and resilient lightweight structures for sustaining such environmental stressors along with mechanical loadings like dynamic impact and fatigue.
Shiva Rudraraju
Computational Mechanics and Multiphysics Group
Prof. Rudraraju’s research focuses on the mathematical and computational modeling of emergent phenomena in materials (structural and biological) that are driven by mechanics and multiphysics. Microstructural evolution, patterning processes and bifurcations are of particular interest.
Stephan Rudykh
Soft Matter Laboratory
Prof. Rudykh’s group focuses on Mechanics and Physics of Soft Materials. Their research bridges the gap between material microstructures and macroscopic properties. They actively utilize design rules observed in nature to develop bio-inspired materials with a large variety of functionalities.
Krishnan Suresh
Engineering Representations and Simulation Laboratory
The Engineering Representation and Simulation Laboratory (ERSL) research group focuses on large-scale topology optimization, design for additive manufacturing, and high performance finite element analysis (FEA).
Ramathasan Thevamaran
Thevamaran Lab
Prof. Thevamaran’s laboratory focuses on advancing the fundamental knowledge of process-structure-property-function relations in structured materials and creating innovative structured materials with extreme mechanical properties.