3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

This graduate-level course provides an introduction to the mechanical behavior of heterogeneous and granular materials from a microscopic point of view. The goal of the course is to provide a foundation for graduate students interested in performing research related to the micromechanics of heterogeneous materials and granular materials. The course employs the principles of continuum mechanics and discusses topics including inclusion and defect theory for materials (e.g., Eshelby’s inclusion and inhomogeneity problems, strain fields around cracks and voids) and homogenized properties (e.g., average stresses and strains, homogenization and interaction assumptions, bounds on moduli) for heterogeneous materials with defects and voids. The course also applies the principles of continuum mechanics to homogenization of microscale behavior in granular materials (forces and packing structure) for the calculation of macroscale fields (stresses and strains). The course involves the solution of boundary value problems as well as reading and discussion of recent papers in the field.