The High Performance Materials and Structures Lab

Our group is focused on studying the mechanical behavior and performance of materials and structures, at various scales from nanowires and living cells to ships and buildings. Our special interest and expertise is development of new concepts and designs for enhancing the performance of structures and materials. We use a combination of methods that range from simple observations and simple scaling laws to detailed computational models and sophisticated experimental equipments to carry out our work.

Topics of our work are generally motivated by considering the current challenges and needs in structures, mechanics, materials including biomaterials and biomechanics and nanotechnology. Many of these topics are initiated and carried out via our industrial collaborations.

Recent Publications

• Hierarchical Honeycombs with Tailorable Properties
  A. Ajdari, B. Haghpanah, J. Papadopoulos, H. Nayeb-Hashemi & A. Vaziri, Int. J. Solids and Structures, 2012, 49, pp. 1413–141.
• Parametric Investigation of Load -induced Structure Remodeling in the Proximal Femur
  A. Marzban, P. Canavan, G. Warner, A. Vaziri & H. Nayeb-Hashimi, J. Engineering in Medicine, in press.
• Mechanical properties of open-cell rhombic dodecahedron cellular structures
  S. Babaee, B. Haghpanah, A. Ajdari, H. Nayeb-Hashemi & A. Vaziri, Acta Materialia, 2012, 60, pp. 2873–2885.
• Elasto-plastic stresses in a functionally graded rotating disk
  B. Haghpanah, H. Nayeb-Hashemi, & A. Vaziri, ASME Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology, 2012, 134, pp. 021004.
• Instability of Cylindrical Shells with Single and Multiple Cracks under Axial Compression
  B. Haghpanah & A. Vaziri, Thin-Walled Structures, 2012, 54, pp. 35-43.
• Shear and bending performance of carbon fiber composite sandwich panels with pyramidal truss cores
  J. Xiong, L. Ma, S. Pan, L. Wu, J. Papadopoulos & A. Vaziri, Acta Materialia, in press.
• Effect of Processing Variables and Fiber Reinforcement on the Mechanical Properties of Wood Plastic Composites
  M. Ashrafi, A. Vaziri & H. Nayeb-Hashemi, Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, in press.
• Wrinkling of pressurized elastic shells
  D. Vella, A. Ajdari, A. Vaziri & A. Boudaoud, Physical Review Letters, 2011, 107, pp. 174301.
• Compression and impact testing of two-layer composite pyramidal-core sandwich panels
  J. Xiong, A. Vaziri, L. Ma, J. Papadopoulos & L. Wu , Composite Structures, in press.