Description

The program supports fundamental research on the mechanics of deformable solid materials and structures under internal and external actions. It welcomes a broad spectrum of research, with a focus on transformative advances in experimental, theoretical, and computational methods. Proposals should clearly articulate their contributions to the field of mechanics.

Research areas of interest include:

• Material response: deformation, fracture, fatigue, contact, and friction.
• Structural response: nonlinear deformation, instability, collapse, and wave propagation.
• Mechanics at the intersection of materials and structures, such as meta-materials, hierarchical, micro-architectured, and low-dimensional materials.
• Advanced computing techniques (e.g., reduced-order modeling, data-driven and stochastic methods) with strong validation components.
• Data analytics for deducing deformation or damage response from large experimental and computational datasets.
• New experimental techniques for capturing deformation and failure under extreme loading or material behavior.
• Multiscale and multiphysics experimental and computational methods.

Proposals focused on buildings and civil infrastructure should be submitted to the Structural and Architectural Engineering Materials (SAEM) program. Proposals on processing and mechanical performance enhancements should go to the Materials Engineering and Processing (MEP) program. Design methodology and theory proposals should consider the Design of Engineering Material Systems (DEMS) program. For combined theoretical and experimental approaches to accelerate materials discovery, see the Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer Our Future (DMREF) opportunity.