Projects and key publications
A unified theory for fracture
The project started with a goal to develop a unified theory of nucleation and propagation of fracture in elastomers that can describe and predict some famed, but heretofore unexplained, experiments in natural and silicone rubber (related to a phenomenon called cavitation).
This work provided unexpected motivation to revisit the nucleation of fracture in brittle materials at large, not just elastomers, and led to a general model for nucleation and propagation of fracture.
Key publications:
Aditya Kumar, Gilles A Francfort, Oscar Lopez-Pamies
Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 2018 (pdf)
Aditya Kumar, Blaise Bourdin, Gilles A Francfort, Oscar Lopez-Pamies
Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 2020 (pdf)
Aditya Kumar, Oscar Lopez-Pamies
Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 2021 (pdf)
Viscoelastic behavior of elastomeric composites
The goal is to describe the macroscopic viscoelastic behavior of polymeric composites directly in terms of the behavior of its microscopic constituents. As a first step, we developed a two-potential framework for nonlinear viscoelasticity to unify various constitutive models in the literature. A model coming out of this framework is now widely used.
Key publications:
Aditya Kumar, Oscar Lopez-Pamies
Comptes Rendus Mecanique, 2016 (pdf)
The nonlinear viscoelastic response of suspensions of rigid inclusions in rubber: I — Gaussian rubber with constant viscosity
Kamalendu Ghosh, Bhavesh Shrimali, Aditya Kumar, Oscar Lopez-Pamies
Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 2021 (pdf)
Frontal polymerization and applications to 3D printing and patterning
Front polymerization is an energy- and time-efficient way of curing polymers and polymeric composites that has opened up new avenues into advanced manufacturing. The goal of this project is to develop rigorous non-linear multi-physics models and supporting theory that can aid the manufacturing process.
Key publications:
Aditya Kumar, Leon M Dean, Mostafa Yourdkhani, Allen Guo, Cole BenVau, Nancy R Sottos, Philippe H Geubelle
Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 2022 (pdf)
Thermo-chemo-mechanical modeling of a rapidly-curing additive manufacturing technique
Aditya Kumar, Michael J Zakoworotny, Jia En Aw, Javier Balta, Sameh H Tawfick Nancy R Sottos, Philippe H Geubelle
In Preparation