The Materials Mechanics Laboratory is concerned with fundamental problems in solid mechanics, particularly with the mechanical behavior of composite materials, microsystems, bones, metals and polymers under static and dynamic loading conditions.
The main research topics are: development of constitutive equations for metals and composites; investigation of failure mechanisms in composites; fracture mechanics and the dynamics of crack growth; damage tolerance and residual strength relevant to impact loading; ballistic penetration mechanics; adhesive bonding; acoustic emission; vibration damping; the solution of equilibrium and buckling problems for elastic and inelastic media; fatigue behavior; biomechanical behavior of human bones and tissues; development and investigation of orthopedic composite material elements to be used for replacement in the human body; deformation and strength of micromechanical elements.
Laboratory facilities consist of test equipment for a wide range of static and dynamic loading at room and elevated temperatures: MTS system of 25-ton load capacity, two INSTRON testing machines of 15-ton and 10-ton capacity, Impact loading machines with computerized data acquisition systems, video and strain gauge recording instrumentation. Acoustic emission detection apparatus, environmental chambers, Hopkinson Bars for determining strength of materials under high rates of loading, high frequency (20 kHz) Shaker, High speed digital camera KODAK(SR-1000c) (10kHz) for non-intrusive oscillation measurements; SEM scanning electron microscope (JSM 840), accurate (12 bit @ 10 MS/sec) NICOLET and high speed HP (8 bit @ 1 GS/sec) digital scopes. The laboratory includes a machine shop for the precise fabrication of specimens of metals and composite materials.
Head: Prof. D. Rittel
Academic Staff: N. Drimer, D. Elata, O. Gottlieb, O. Gendelman, S. Givli, D. Hexner, D. Mordehai, D. Rittel, D. Shilo, Y. Starosvetsky, S. Tzlil, G. Shmuel, S. Osovski
