41st SOLID MECHANICS CONFERENCE

This Session encompasses theoretical, computational and experimental investigations in the broad field of elasticity, plasticity and phase transition. Especially welcome are the presentations bringing novel concepts and results that can be of interest not only for specialists in the particular topic addressed but also for a wider group of researchers working in other branches of the field. This is to promote interactions between different but methodologically related approaches to a variety of contemporary problems of continuum mechanics. Of special interest are reports on the recent progress in the mechanics at small length scales and including size effects. This comprises in particular the development of higher-order gradients theories as well as models of surface and interfacial energy effects.

In general, this Session is intended to provide opportunities to exchange ideas, experiences and scientific research results from the area of elasticity, plasticity and phase transition.

Advanced engineering materials (e.g. metal-, ceramic- and polymer-matrix composites) are playing a steadily increasing role in many sectors of industry including inter alia automotive, aerospace, energy, biomedicine and electronics. These materials manifest superior mechanical, physical and in-service properties such as high specific strength, high resistance to temperature and rapid temperature changes, enhanced resistance to frictional wear, corrosion and erosion.

Some of materials rupture by a single crack mechanisms, other may fail as a consequence of a progressive damage. Creep or plastic deformation, possibly coupled with corrosion often exacerbate the processes of material damage and fracture. Despite much progress in materials design and manufacturing the detrimental effects like microcracking and cavitation on the material microscale or macrocrack nucleation and growth in structural components under operational conditions are of major concern in most engineering applications. Hence, damage and fracture of advanced materials are fields of intensive research both experimentally and by modeling.

This session is focused on modeling of damage and fracture phenomena observed in advanced structural and functional materials at the stage of their processing and under in-service conditions (e.g. under thermomechanical loading, in aggressive environment, etc.)

Research contributions are sought in the fields of phenomenological, micromechanical and multiscale modeling of material damage and fracture of different origin, modeling of interfaces and their influence on materials performance, modeling of crack growth and crack toughening mechanisms, modeling of creep and fatigue. Verification studies based on the comparison with experimental results are expected. Statistical models (e.g. percolation) as well as molecular dynamics models of damage and fracture are also welcomed.

This session is primarily concerned with bulk metal-, ceramic- and polymer-matrix composites (MMC, CMC, PMC), functionally graded materials (FGM) and coatings. Original findings on damage and fracture of other materials such as advanced steels and ceramics can also be submitted.

The session will focus on the description and analysis of the influence of material microstructure on plasticity, damage and fracture. In particular the contributions concerning the role of texture-induced anisotropy in polycrystalline materials or spatial distribution of particles in composites in shaping the overall response in terms of plasticity, viscoplasticity, damage development, void growth and dynamic failure, will be welcome. The session will cover the following topics:

• Physically-based constitutive models,
• Description of the plastic anisotropy of metals,
• Viscoelasticity, viscoplasticity and high strain rates models,
• Dynamic failure,
• Multiscale modelling of plasticity damage and fracture,
• Experimental validation of the modelling approaches.

The objective of this session is to provide a forum for presentation and discussion of new ideas referring to both the theoretical background and practical applications of computational solid mechanics. The area of our interests is multidisciplinary and encompasses widely undestood relationships between classical solid mechanics and computational science. In particular, the following topics are welcome to be covered in the session's presentations:

• computational intelligence in modelling of solids,
• modelling of growth phenomena and evolution of microstructures,
• new progress in finite, boundary and discrete element methods,
• new progress in meshless and related methods,
• numerical approaches in contact mechanics,
• numerical aspects of biomechanics,
• numerical aspects of coupled field problems,
• numerical aspects of coupled solid-fluid mechanics,
• numerical aspects of multiscale modelling,
• parallel computing techniques in solid mechanics.

The session addresses recent developments and challenges in material modelling taking into account their materials structure and their discrete nature. It is aimed to gather contributions presenting research on discrete and multiscale modelling of solids as well as multiphase systems with solid phase, for instance fluid-particle mixtures.Theoretical developments and applications of various numerical methods based on discrete treatment of materials at various levels, such as:

• atomistic models,
• molecular dynamics,
• discrete element method,
• cellular automata

and others are expected. Contributions presenting methods and results of multiscale modelling involving above mentioned and other methods, e.g. Monte Carlo, SPH, are welcome. Couplings of different methods, for instance DEM with CFD, DEM with FEM is within the scope of interest. The session is open for different practical applications, including geomechanics, materials science, chemical engineering, metallurgy, mechanical and civil engineering, biomechanics.

Phenomena related to coupled fields in any forms of interaction between electrical, magnetic, mechanical, chemical and thermal, associated to continuous media with micro- / nano-structures incurred in various branches of engineering sciences are the focus of this session. Novel higher order continuum theories, experimental methodologies, computational, and atomistic simulations to capture the discrete nature of the media are in the spotlight.

In recent physical foundations of continua, multiscale modelling is aimed to estimate material properties or system behaviour on one level using information and theories from different levels: level of quantum mechanical models accounting for the information about electron fields, level of molecular dynamics providing information about individual atoms, mesoscale or nano level related with the information about groups of atoms and molecules and finally level of continuum models. Each level is related with an information flow over a specific window of length and time. Multiscale modelling is significant in integrated computational prediction of material properties or system behaviour with use of the knowledge of the atomistic structure and properties of elementary processes. On the other hand, in the workflow integration approach information from molecular simulation at different levels flows into the decision process.

The contributions devoted to presentation and critical comparison and discussion of the both aforementioned approaches are welcome.

The studies and discussions of computational challenges related with integrated computational materials engineering belong also to the scope of the session.

Also the wide scope of the coupled fields phenomena of interest include but not limited to:

• coupled fields problems involving nano-size structures, dislocations, nano-size cracks, inhomogeneities, and nano-composites, where surfaces / interfaces have significant effects,
• coupled fields associated to various static as well as wave propagation problems,
• piezoelectric and piezomagnetic media,
• energy materials, quantum dots, and quantum wires,
• theoretical, experimental, and atomistic modelling including ab initio,
• studies of coupled-fields with reference to generalized continua.

The session on will focus on selected aspects of experimental mechanics of solid bodies, i.e.:

• highlighting latest innovations, R&D and industrial activities in area of experimental methods in mechanics
• providing forum for discussion of the latest research results, new developments of concepts and technologies, proven techniques,  as well as practical applications and standardization of the experimental methods in mechanics.

Main topics

• Material characterization and testing: smart materials, residual stress, fatigue, fracture, creep
• Structural analysis: experimental tests, structural health monitoring, system identification, damage assessment, self-adaptive structures
• Instrumentation: optical methods (DIC, ESPI), new sensors and actuators, advanced measurement systems, validation and reliability of instrumentation
• Integration of mathematical/numerical methods with experimental mechanics
• Practical applications and case studies.

Scope:

• Experimental modeling of instability, localization and degradation in geomaterials.
• Constitutive modeling and multi-physical coupling for localization, instability and degradation of geomaterials.
• Numerical continuous and discontinuous modeling of failure, localized deformation and gravity driven flows.
• Micro-mechanics and multi-scale analyses of instabilities and degradation in geomaterials.
• Computational challenges in modelling geomaterials.
• Size effects in geomaterials.
• Geomechanics for energy, environment and geophysics.
• Nonlinear and stochastic dynamics in geomaterials.
• Soil-tool/machine interaction.

Scope of the session:

• General biomechanics (the determination of external forces and internal forces acting on the biological systems, e.g. on the human body) and the effects that these forces cause.
• Medical biomechanics, based on the use of results of general biomechanics research in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of organs.
• Biomechanical engineering, which applies the principles of general biomechanics for the analysis and design of technical devices
• Biomechanics of work, the subject of which is the consideration of the causes and effects of workloads resulting from physical work for the human musculoskeletal system.
• Bio-heat transfer. Modeling of thermal processes proceeding in the domain of biological tissue. Interactions between skin tissue and the external heat sources.
• Growth and evolution modeling of the living tissues. Bone remodeling.

The contents of the session will be as follows:

• shape memory alloys,
• shape memory polymers
• shape memory composites
• functionally-graded shape memory materials
• materials related to phase transformation
• multifunctional active materials
• mechanical properties of smart materials and their applications
• smart structures

We welcome contributions on experimental and simulation results on smart materials and structures and their behaviour in various conditions.

In modern times structural mechanics is increasingly bound together with optimum design, justifying including both topics in a single session. The main aim of the session is to provide a forum for exchanging views on how optimum design activities impact on structural mechanics, and, similarly, how an understanding of the mechanics of structures can lead to new formulations for optimum design problems. Consider that the minimum compliance multi-material design problem leads to nonhomogeneous solutions defining the underlying microstructure, yet, on the other hand, truss optimization leads to fibrous structures, and adding new members results in better solutions. However, to construct manufacturable designs there is a need to rationalize optimum solutions. Theoretical papers leading to new abstract designs and papers exploring new rationalization concepts are equally welcome. Also, papers on fundamental aspects of structural mechanics, not necessarily inspired by modern design needs, are also welcome.

Papers which address challenging practical problems such as treating global buckling instability phenomena and transmissible loadings (to facilitate form finding) are also welcome. Participants are also encouraged to describe work in non-classical areas. For example, topology optimisation can be used to automatically identify the location of strengthening elements for existing structures (retrofit design synthesis) and papers on this largely neglected topic are most welcome. Similarly, papers relating to the design or retrofitting of masonry structures, the design of foundations in the presence of soil-structure interactions, and the design of concrete structures using fibres or conventional reinforcing elements will also be very welcome.

This session welcomes contributions dealing with all aspects of nonlinear and adaptive dynamical systems in the area of mechanical and structural engineering.

Mechanical and structural systems with nonlinearities represent a large group of dynamical systems. We can distinguish nonlinearities introduced by geometry, characteristic of springs and dampers, by friction or impacts, etc. The dynamics of such systems is complex and can lead to unexpected behavior, hence the detailed knowledge about stability and coexistence of solutions is the crucial issue. In many applications the usefulness of nonlinear systems exceed the linear ones and let us use them in significantly wider purposes. We welcome all submission focused on nonlinear dynamical systems and their applications in mechanical and structural systems.

We invite also contributions on adaptive systems, including distributed and/or semi-active control strategies as well as related actuators. Such systems employ smart strategies of structural adaptation to external excitations and vibration patterns. The adaptation might be implemented through a number of diverse physical mechanisms and smart materials (magnetorheological fluids, tuned inerter dampers, piezoelectric actuators, bistable valves, etc.). Various control objectives are possible, such as dissipation of vibration or impact energy, protection of specific substructures, minimization of displacements and accelerations. The nonlinearity or bilinearity of the involved control encourages nonstandard optimization approaches.

Theoretical as well as experimental contributions are equally welcome.

The topics of the session include (but are not limited to):

• Classical and non-classical kinematical models: Kirchhoff-Love, Reissner-Mindlin, Cosserat , layer-wise theories and others,
• Constitutive equations for shells and plates: elastic, elastic-plastic, composites (multilayered, with microstructure), effective (homogenized, surrogate) material properties, damage of composites (delamination, Progressive Failure Analysis, etc.)
• Constitutive equations for thin micro- and nano-films, biological membranes, and other thin-walled structures,
• Methods of mechanics of plates and shells in modeling of surface-related phenomena in solids and fluids,
• Finite elements for shells: with rotational dofs, solid-shells, 3D. Various formulations and techniques improving element’s performance; mixed, enhanced, stabilized, isogeometric, etc.,
• Advanced numerical analyses of shell structures (dynamics, stability, optimization, etc).

If you have any queries about the session, please write to kwisn@ippt.pan.pl

Stochastic mechanics is subject area concerning modeling mechanical problems by using random variables and stochastic processes to reflect all model uncertainties. It started extensive development at early sixties of the twentieth century, which coincided with the beginning of research activity of the late Prof. Kazimierz Sobczyk. During next decades Prof. Kazimierz Sobczyk made research in various areas of stochastic mechanics including: stochastic dynamical systems, stochastic wave propagation, modeling of random materials, fracture mechanics, micromechanics, information-theory based methods and many others.

This session is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Sobczyk. Thus, we invite papers of wide spectrum of stochasticity-related papers covering both well-established areas of stochastic mechanics and new challenges caused by rapid development of new theoretical, computational and experimental tools. We also invite interdisciplinary stochastic mechanics related papers indicating new directions in research and answering recent human needs. We especially invite papers inspired by Prof. Sobczyk's research papers and his books.

An outstanding expansion of composite material engineering applications which could be observed during past few decades would not be possible without a remarkable intensification of the research and technical development in that area. We invite researchers from different specialties concerned with the Composite Materials and Structures to share their research experiences and scientific achievements during this special thematic session organized within Solmech 2018 Conference. Contributions on theoretical investigations, experimental examinations, designing concepts and industrial applications are welcome.