Prof. Richard Weaver Has Research Opportunities in Nonclassical, Nonlinear Elastic Behavior in Materials

Professor Richard Weaver (4115 ESB, r-weaver@illinois.edu) is looking for student(s) to work on a DOE project on an unexplained nonclassical nonlinear elastic behavior in a class of materials with multicracked microstructures ( think rocks, cements, cracked glass, unconsolidated bead packs ). These exhibit a universal (inasmuch as many materials do it) and time scale free ( over orders of magnitude in time ) log(time) recovery of stiffness after stiffness degradation due to applied transient stresses. The project is mostly experimental, using ultrasound to probe time varying stiffnesses, with the goal of elucidating the microphysical mechanisms.

For more information, see, e.g., Phys Rev E.107.044902; arXiv:2308.11475; Phys Rev E 101 012901