Civil Engineering FACULTY
- Rodney J. Clifton (Professor)
- Professor Clifton's group conducts research on the mechanical response of materials subjected to very high loading rates. This research is motivated by the need for better understanding of such processes as high speed machining, armor penetration, shear band formation, martensitic phase transformations, elastohydrodynamic lubrication, and dynamic fracture. The research involves combined experimental and computational investigations in which the experimental component makes use of plane wave loading to provide the most direct interpretation of the experimental results in terms of the response of the material.
- Janet Blume (Associate Professor)
- Professor Blume's research focuses on mathematical aspects of solid mechanics. For example, questions of existence and uniqueness of solutions to systems of partial differential equations that arise in continuum descriptions of solid behavior are considered. Recent work in this area is concerned with finding the circumstances under which a given rotation field can be generated by a continuum deformation of a solid. Such existence conditions are a useful guide to interpretation of experimental measurements of rotation fields.
- Alan Needleman (Professor)
- Professor Needleman's main research interests are in the computational modeling of deformation and failure processes in structural materials, in particular metals. A general objective is to provide quantitative relations between the measurable (and hopefully controllable) features of the materials' micro-scale structure and its macroscopic mechanical behavior. Ongoing research projects involve studies of ductile fracture and ductile-brittle transitions in metals; crack growth in hetergeneous microstructures with particular emphasis on the role of interfaces; discrete dislocation plasticity and fast fracture in brittle solids.
- Eric Suuberg (Professor)
- Professor Suuberg's research interests revolve around the chemical reactions of solids, particularly in relation to the fields of combustion, fuel chemistry and environmental technology. This research has involved applications ranging from combustion of coal or "alternative (green) fuels" to fire safety to pollution prevention. Also, recently the work has led to examination of novel sources of carbon materials for environmental applications, with important implications for resource recycling.
Adjunct Professors
David Carchedi, PhD, PE: Principal, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. Providence, RIMichael P. De Francesco, PE: former Principal-In-Charge, Maguire Group Inc., Providence, RI
Laurenz Hermann, PE: Lecture/Senior Research Engineer, Brown University, Providence, RI
George Hradil, PhD: Senior Research Engineer, Technic, Cranston, RI
David J. Odeh, PE: Principal, Odeh Engineers, Inc. Providence, RI
