Dear Colleagues:

We would like to cordially invite you to attend the mini-symposium entitled "6.13: Recent Advances on the Actuation and Failure Response of Active Materials" organized at the Society of Engineering Science Annual Technical Meeting. The conference will be held in College Station, Texas, October 16–19, 2022 (https://na.eventscloud.com/website/33592/).

The topic of this symposium is broad, from a scientific understanding of the processes of deformation and mechanical failure, to the structural and functional effectiveness and reliability of active materials in engineering applications. The aim is to offer a platform for scientists and engineers to present and discuss experimental, modeling, and simulation research on the underlying physical mechanisms that govern the deformation response and failure in such materials, the connections between these processes, as well as on the design and performance evaluation of related structures. Both hard and soft active materials are considered, such as thermomechanical and ferromagnetic shape memory alloys, liquid crystal elastomers, magnetorheological elastomers, and any other type of material or system that responds to a non-mechanical stimulus.

We look forward to having you join us!

The deadline for abstracts is May 16, 2022.

Organizers:

Theocharis Baxevanis (tbaxevanis@uh.edu) University of Houston

Marcus Young (Marcus.Young@unt.edu) University of North Texas

Bjoern Kiefer (Bjoern.Kiefer@imfd.tu-freiberg.de) TU Freiberg

Stephan Rudykh (rudykh@wisc.edu) University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dear Colleagues:

We would like to cordially invite you to attend the mini-symposium entitled "320: Mechanics and Physics of Active Materials" orinized at the 19th U.S. National Congress on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. The conference will be held in Austin, Texas, June 19–24, 2022 (http://www.usnctam2022.org/congressMS).

The topic of this symposium is broad, from a scientific understanding of the processes of deformation and mechanical failure, to the structural and functional effectiveness and reliability of active materials in engineering applications. The aim is to offer a platform for scientists and engineers to present and discuss experimental, modeling, and simulation research on the underlying physical mechanisms that govern the deformation response and failure in such materials, the connections between these processes, as well as on the design and performance evaluation of related structures. Both hard and soft active materials are considered, such as thermomechanical and ferromagnetic shape memory alloys, liquid crystal elastomers, magnetorheological elastomers, and any other type of material or system that responds to a non-mechanical stimulus.

We look forward to having you join us!

The deadline for abstracts is December 18, 2022.

Organizers:

Theocharis Baxevanis (tbaxevanis@uh.edu) University of Houston

Edwin A Peraza Hernandez (eperazah@uci.edu) University of California, Irvine

Bjoern Kiefer (Bjoern.Kiefer@imfd.tu-freiberg.de) TU Freiberg

Dimitris C. Lagoudas (lagoudas@tamu.edu) Texas A&M University

Stephan Rudykh (rudykh@wisc.edu) University of Wisconsin-Madison

There is a Ph.D. opening in my research group in the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Houston to be filled as soon as possible.
The research topic is multiscale modeling of the deformation response of SMAs through Machine Learning and Bayesian Inference.

Interested applicants are requested to contact Theocharis Baxevanis (tbaxevanis@uh.edu) with a brief cover letter that includes a summary of skills and copy of CV.
A master's degree in the areas of computational/continuum/fracture mechanics is required.

There is a Ph.D. opening in my research group in the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Houston to be filled the fall semester of 2021.
The research topic is modeling the deformation and fracture response of dissipative material systems.

Interested applicants are requested to contact Theocharis Baxevanis (tbaxevanis@uh.edu) with a brief cover letter that includes a summary of skills and copy of CV.
A master's degree in the areas of computational/continuum/fracture mechanics is required.

Dear Colleagues:

We would like to cordially invite you to attend the symposium entitled "Mechanics and Physics of Active Materials and Systems" organized under track "Frontiers in Mechanics of Materials" in the Society of Engineering Science (SES) 57th Annual Technical Meeting conference. The conference will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 28–30, 2020 (https://ccaps.umn.edu/SES).

The topic of this symposium is broad, from a scientific understanding of the processes of deformation and mechanical failure, to the structural and functional effectiveness and reliability of active materials in engineering applications. The aim is to offer a platform for scientists and engineers to present and discuss experimental, modeling, and simulation research on the underlying physical mechanisms that govern the deformation response and failure in such materials, the connections between these processes, as well as on the design and performance evaluation of related structures. Both hard and soft active materials are considered, such as thermomechanical and ferromagnetic shape memory alloys, liquid crystal elastomers, magnetorheological elastomers, and any other type of material or system that responds to a non-mechanical stimulus. Research presentations from both academia and industry are welcome.

We look forward to having you join us!

The deadline for abstracts is March 17, 2020.

Organizers:

Theocharis Baxevanis (tbaxevanis@uh.edu) University of Houston

Dimitris C. Lagoudas (lagoudas@tamu.edu) Texas A&M University

Ibrahim Karaman (ikaraman@tamu.edu) Texas A&M University

There is a Ph.D. opening in my research group in the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Houston to be filled the spring semester of 2020.
The research topic is modeling the deformation and fracture response of dissipative material systems.

Interested applicants are requested to contact Theocharis Baxevanis (tbaxevanis@uh.edu) with a brief cover letter that includes a summary of skills and copy of CV.
A master's degree in the areas of computational/continuum/fracture mechanics is required.

Dear Colleagues:

We would like to cordially invite you to attend the symposium entitled "Deformation and Failure of Multifunctional Materials" organized under track "Mechanics of Solids, Structures, and Fluids" in the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) ASME 2018 conference. The conference will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 11–14, 2018 (https://www.asme.org/events/imece).

The broad topic of this symposium is the structural and functional effectiveness and reliability of multifunctional materials in engineering applications. The aim is to offer a platform for scientists and engineers to present and discuss experimental, modeling, and simulation research on the deformation response and failure of such materials. Piezoelectric ceramics, thermomechanical and ferromagnetic shape memory alloys, magnetorheological elastomers, and any other type of monolithic or composite material exhibiting multi-field coupling in bulk or thin-film are considered. Research presentations from both academia and industry are welcome.

We look forward to having you join us!

The deadline for abstracts is February 26, 2018.

Organizers:

Theocharis Baxevanis (tbaxevanis@uh.edu) University of Houston

Dimitris C. Lagoudas (lagoudas@tamu.edu) Texas A&M University

Ibrahim Karaman (ikaraman@tamu.edu) Texas A&M University

Charles S. Wojnar (wojnarc@mst.edu) Missouri S&T

Russell Mailen (rwmailen@auburn.edu) Auburn University

Dear Colleagues:

We would like to cordially invite you to attend the symposium entitled "Deformation and Failure of Multifunctional Materials" organized under track "Mechanics of Solids, Structures, and Fluids" in the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) ASME 2018 conference. The conference will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 11–14, 2018 (https://www.asme.org/events/imece).

The broad topic of this symposium is the structural and functional effectiveness and reliability of multifunctional materials in engineering applications. The aim is to offer a platform for scientists and engineers to present and discuss experimental, modeling, and simulation research on the deformation response and failure of such materials. Piezoelectric ceramics, thermomechanical and ferromagnetic shape memory alloys, magnetorheological elastomers, and any other type of monolithic or composite material exhibiting multi-field coupling in bulk or thin-film are considered. Research presentations from both academia and industry are welcome.

We look forward to having you join us!

The deadline for abstracts is February 26, 2018.

Organizers:

Theocharis Baxevanis (tbaxevanis@uh.edu) University of Houston

Dimitris C. Lagoudas (lagoudas@tamu.edu) Texas A&M University

Ibrahim Karaman (ikaraman@tamu.edu) Texas A&M University

Charles S. Wojnar (wojnarc@mst.edu) Missouri S&T

Russell Mailen (rwmailen@auburn.edu) Auburn University

On behalf of the Center for Research and Development of Advanced Materials established by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Texas A&M University Engineering Experiment Station, we would like to announce a summer school on Advanced Material Systems: Experimentation–Modeling–Commercialization. The summer school will be held from July 4–11, 2017 on the Aristotle University campus in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The scope of this one-week summer school is to familiarize students with the state of the art in advanced materials production, testing, constitutive law modeling, micromechanics and homogenization methods and theory, and commercialization.

The target audience for the AMS2017 Summer School is graduates and junior researchers (PhD students, postdocs). The idea is for each day to have a theoretical session in the morning, followed by hands-on materials testing and computer simulations in the afternoon. The industrial visit to Alumil-CFT and the full day training to BETA CAE Systems’ software packages will offer a unique experience to the participants.

For further information and a full list of the instructors, you may visit:

http://ams17.web.auth.gr/

Should you be interested in attending the summer school, we are looking forward to receiving your electronic application by June, 15.

This summer school is a continuation of equivalent summer schools that were organized by “The International Institute for Multifunctional Materials for Energy Conversion” (IIMEC), an NSF-funded International Material Institute, established at Texas A&M University, in partnership with Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Houston and international research collaborators at Universities in North Africa, the Middle East, and Mediterranean countries.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:
D. Lagoudas (Texas A&M University)
N. Michailidis (A.U.Th.)
Th. Baxevanis (University of Houston)
N. Charalambakis (A.U.Th.)

Contact Information:
N. Michailidis (A.U.Th.): nmichail@eng.auth.gr
K. Katakalos (A.U.Th.): kkatakal@auth.gr

Dear Colleagues:

Please, consider to attend the symposium entitled "Fatigue and Fracture of Active Materials" organized under track "Mechanics of Solids, Structures, and Fluids" in the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) ASME 2017 conference. The conference will be held in Tampa, Florida, November 6–9, 2017 (https://www.asme.org/events/imece).

The broad topic of this symposium is the structural and functional reliability and effectiveness of active materials in engineering applications. The aim is to offer a platform for scientists and engineers to present and discuss experimental, modeling, and simulation research on the mechanisms and mechanics of the cyclic deterioration and failure of such materials. Piezoelectric ceramics, thermomechanical and ferromagnetic shape memory alloys, magnetorheological elastomers, and any other type of monolithic or composite material exhibiting multi-field coupling in bulk or thin-film are considered. Research presentations from both academia and industry are welcome.

We look forward to having you join us!

The opening talk will be given by Hüseyin Sehitoglu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The deadline for abstracts is March 6, 2017.

Sincerely,

Theocharis Baxevanis, University of Houston

Ibrahim Karaman, Texas A&M University

There is a Ph.D. opportunity in my lab http://www.me.uh.edu/faculty/baxevanis supported by the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Houston on the microstructure-sensitive description of the deformation and failure response of shape memory alloys. Applications are sought from self-motivated students with a strong background on solid mechanics and FEA simulations. Should you be interested in the position, please, email your CV to tbaxevan at central dot uh dot edu.

On behalf of the International Institute for Multifunctional Materials for Energy Conversion (IIMEC) and the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, we would like to announce a summer school on Advanced Material Systems: Experimentation and Modeling. The summer school will be held from July 3–9, 2016 on the Aristotle University campus in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The scope of this one-week summer school is to familiarize students with the state of the art in advanced materials production, testing, constitutive law modeling, micromechanics and homogenization methods and theory.

The target audience for the 2016 IIMEC Summer School is graduates and junior researchers (PhD students, postdocs). The idea is for each day to have a theoretical session in the morning, followed by hands-on materials testing and computer simulations in the afternoon. The industrial visit to Alumil-CFT and the full day training to BETA CAE Systems’ software packages will offer a unique experience to the participants.

For further information and a full list of the speakers, you may visit:

http://iimec2016.web.auth.gr/

Should you be interested in attending the summer school, we are looking forward to receiving your electronic application by June, 15.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

D. Lagoudas (Texas A&M University)

N. Michailidis (A.U.Th.)

Th. Baxevanis (University of Houston)

N. Charalambakis (A.U.Th.)

Contact Information:

N. Michailidis (A.U.Th.): nmichail@eng.auth.gr

K. Katakalos (A.U.Th.): kkatakal@auth.gr

On behalf of the International Institute for Multifunctional Materials for Energy Conversion (IIMEC) and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M, we would like to announce the 5th Summer School on Computational Materials Science Across Scales. The 2016 IIMEC Summer School will be held from July 18 to July 29, 2016 on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station, Texas.

Topics will include thermodynamics and kinetics of microstructures, micromechanics of plasticity, fracture and phase transformations, mesoscale modeling methods (phase field, dislocation dynamics), atomistic simulations (molecular dynamics, electronic structure calculations), and elements of integrated computer-aided materials design.

The intended audience of this 5th IIMEC Summer School comprises graduate students, post docs, and junior scientists who would like to learn more about state of the art techniques in computational materials science. Lectures will be followed by comprehensive, hands-on practical sessions where the students will have the opportunity to use some of the most common computer simulation codes.

Should you be interested in attending the summer school, we are looking forward to receiving your electronic application (see attached application form and flyer) by April,1.

Amine Benzerga, Lead Organizer

Ray Arroyave, Co-organizer

Theocharis Baxevanis, Co-organizer

Contact Information:

Ashley A. McCoy (ashley.mccoy@tamu.edu)

Following their discovery in the early 1960s, there has been a continuous quest for ways to take advantage of the extraordinary properties of shape memory alloys (SMAs). These intermetallic alloys can be extremely compliant while retaining the strength of metals and can convert thermal energy to mechanical work. The unique properties of SMAs result from a reversible diffussionless solid-to-solid phase transformation from austenite to martensite. The integration of SMAs into composite structures has resulted in many benefits, which include actuation, vibration control, damping, sensing, and self-healing. However, despite substantial research in this area, a comparable adoption of SMA composites by industry has not yet been realized. This discrepancy between academic research and commercial interest is largely associated with the material complexity that includes strong thermomechanical coupling, large inelastic deformations, and variable thermoelastic properties. Nonetheless, as SMAs are becoming increasingly accepted in engineering applications, a similar trend for SMA composites is expected in aerospace, automotive, and energy conversion and storage-related applications. In an effort to aid in this endeavor, a comprehensive overview of advances with regard to SMA composites and devices utilizing them is pursued in this paper. Emphasis is placed on identifying the characteristic responses and properties of these material systems as well as on comparing the various modeling methodologies for describing their response. Furthermore, the paper concludes with a discussion of future research efforts that may have the greatest impact on promoting the development of SMA composites and their implementation in multifunctional structures.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00707-015-1433-0

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are intermetallic alloys displaying recoverable strains that can be an order of magnitude greater than in traditional alloys due to their capacity to undergo a thermal and/or stress-induced martensitic phase transformation. Since their discovery, the SMA industry has been dominated by products for biomedical applications with geometrically small feature sizes, especially endovascular stents. For such products the technological importance of fracture mechanics is limited, with the emphasis being placed on preventing crack nucleation rather than controlling crack growth. However, the successful integration of SMAs into commercial actuation, energy absorption, and vibration damping applications requires understanding and practice of fracture mechanics concepts in SMAs. The fracture response of SMAs is rather complex owing to the reversibility of phase transformation, detwinning and reorientation of martensitic variants, the possibility of dislocation and transformation-induced plasticity, and the strong thermomechanical coupling. Large-scale phase transformation under actuation loading paths, i.e., combined thermo-mechanical loading, and the associated configuration dependence complicate the phenomenon even further and question the applicability of single parameter fracture mechanics theories. Here, the existing knowledge base on the fracture mechanics of SMAs under mechanical loading is reviewed and recent developments in actuation-induced SMA fracture are presented, in terms of the micro-mechanisms of fracture, near-tip fracture environments, fracture criteria, and fracture toughness properties.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10704-015-9999-z

Dear Colleagues:

Please, consider to attend the symposium entitled "Behavior and Mechanics of Active Materials & Structures" organized for the occasion of the 52nd Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineering Science (SES). The SES meeting will be held at Texas A&M University, October 26 - 28, 2015 (http://ses-2015.org/).

This symposium aims to bring together researchers from the materials science and mechanics communities in an effort to create a synergism of active materials development, experimental results and theoretical modeling and simulation methods on the behavior and mechanics of active materials, emphasizing phase transforming materials. The material systems considered can be either bulk structural active materials or thin films, monolithic or composites with actuation or sensing characteristics and operating under normal or extreme thermomechanical or chemical environments. Related issues to be addressed are an improved understanding of properties, modeling methodologies, enhancement of performance, design and optimization of materials and micro-rstructures and behaviors such as fatigue and fracture.

We look forward to having you join us!

Sincerely,

Dimitris Lagoudas

Theocharis Baxevanis

George Chatzigeorgiou

Dear Colleagues:

Please, consider to attend the symposium entitled "Computational Materials with Emphasis on Phase Transformation" organized for the occasion of the 52nd Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineering Science (SES). The SES meeting will be held at Texas A&M University, October 26 - 28, 2015 (http://ses-2015.org/).

This symposium is intended to provide a forum to discuss advances in technical methodologies, and the application of computational materials science to guide, interpret, or otherwise enhance related experimental materials, with an emphasis given to phase transforming materials.

We look forward to having you join us!

Sincerely,

Raymundo Arroyave (rarroyave@tamu.edu)

Theocharis Baxevanis (theocharis@tamu.edu)

Important dates:

•June 26, 2015: Abstracts due

•July 10 2015: Notification of abstract acceptance

•September 18, 2015: Early registration deadline

On behalf of the International Institute for Multifunctional Materials for Energy Conversion (IIMEC) and the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, we would like to announce a summer school on Advanced Material Systems: Experimentation and Modeling. The summer school will be held from July 13–18, 2015 on the Aristotle University campus in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The scope of this one-week summer school is to familiarize students with the state of the art in advanced composite materials production, testing, constitutive law modeling, micromechanics and homogenization methods and theory.

The target audience for the 2015 IIMEC Summer School is graduates and junior researchers (PhD students, postdocs). The idea is for each day to have a theoretical session in the morning, followed by hands-on materials testing and computer simulations in the afternoon. The industrial visit to Alumil-CFT and the full day training to BETA CAE Systems’ software packages will offer a unique experience to the participants.

For further information and a full list of the speakers, you may visit: http://iimec2015.web.auth.gr/index.php

Should you be interested in attending the summer school, we are looking forward to receiving your electronic application by June, 15.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

D. Lagoudas (Texas A&M University)

N. Michailidis (A.U.Th.)

Th. Baxevanis (Texas A&M University)

N. Charalambakis (A.U.Th.)

Contact Information:

N. Michailidis (A.U.Th.): nmichail@eng.auth.gr

K. Katakalos (A.U.Th.): kkatakal@auth.gr

A. Tsouknidas (A.U.Th.): alextso@auth.gr

On behalf of the International Institute for Multifunctional Materials for Energy Conversion (IIMEC) and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M, we would like to announce the 4th Summer School on Computational Materials Science Across Scales. The 2015 IIMEC Summer School will be held from July 20–31, 2015 on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station, Texas.

Topics will include thermodynamics and kinetics of microstructures, micromechanics of plasticity, fracture and phase transformations, mesoscale modeling methods (phase field, dislocation dynamics), atomistic simulations (molecular dynamics, electronic structure calculations), and elements of integrated computer-aided materials design.

The intended audience of this 4th IIMEC Summer School comprises graduate students, post docs, and junior scientists who would like to learn more about state of the art techniques in computational materials science. Lectures will be followed by comprehensive, hands-on practical sessions where the students will have the opportunity to use some of the most common computer simulation codes.

For further information and a full list of the speakers, you may visit: http://iimec.tamu.edu/summer2015

Should you be interested in attending the summer school, we are looking forward to receiving your electronic application (see attached application form) by June,15.

Amine Benzerga, Lead Organizer

Ray Arroyave, Co-organizer

Theocharis Baxevanis, Co-organizer

Contact Information:

Ashley A. McCoy (ashley.mccoy@tamu.edu)