Research

Keywords: Friction, gouge, dynamic fracture ,thermo-hydro mechanical weakening, strain localization, stick-slip, induced seismicity, spectral boundary integral, slip pulses.

The long term objective of this research is to link small scale  processes in fault zones with large scale dynamic rupture characteristics, wave propagation, seismic and aseismic slip, and long term earthquake cycle models to provide rigorous predictive tools for nonlinear fault dynamics that can ultimately inform next generation seismic hazard models. Our work is contributing to the development of micromechanical models of deformation and failure in granular materials, modeling dynamic ruptures in heterogeneous fault zones and branched fault systems, identification of hydro-thermo- mechanical weakening mechanisms specific to fault gouge, investigation of strain localization and stick-slip dynamics in sheared and vibrated granular layers with breakable particles, and establishment of novel hybrid numerical techniques for multi-scale fault zone dynamics.

Publications:

3 Elbanna A., and Heaton T. H. (2012). A New Paradigm for Simulating Pulse-Like Ruptures: The Pulse Energy Equation. Geophysics Journal International, Volume 189, Issue 3, pages 1797-1806.

7 Elbanna A. E., and Carlson J. M. (2014). A two-scale model for sheared fault gouge: Competition between macroscopic disorder and local viscoplasticity. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 119(6), 4841-4859 [18 pages]..

8 Lieou C. K. C., Elbanna A. E., Langer J. S., and Carlson J. M. (2014). Shear flow of angular grains: acoustic effects and non-monotonic rate dependence of volume. Phys. Rev. E 90, 032204 [12 pages]..

10 Ma X., & Elbanna, A. (2015). Effect of off-fault low-velocity elastic inclusions on supershear rupture dynamics. Geophys. J. Int. 203 (1): 664-677. doi:10.1093/gji/ggv302..

11 Lieou, C. K., Elbanna, A. E., Langer, J. S., & Carlson, J. M. (2015). Stick-slip instabilities in sheared granular flow: The role of friction and acoustic vibrations. Phys. Rev. E, 92(2), 022209 [10 pages]..

13 Lieou, C. K., Elbanna, A. E., & Carlson, J. M. (2016). Dynamic friction in sheared fault gouge: implications of acoustic vibration on triggering and slow slip. Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume 121, Issue 3, 1483-1496..

15 Kothari, K., & Elbanna, A. (2017). Localization and instability in sheared granular materials: Role of friction and vibration. Phys. Rev. E. [Accepted 11 January 2017].

16 Hajarolasvadi S. & Elbanna A. E. (2017). A new hybrid numerical scheme for simulating fault ruptures with near-fault bulk heterogeneities. Geophysics Journal International, 211, 873-886.

21 Ma, X., & Elbanna, A. E. (2018). Strain Localization in Dry Sheared Fault Gouge: A Compactivity-based Approach. Phys Rev E 98,022906.

23 Ma X., Hajarolasvadi S., Albertini G., Kammer D., & Elbanna A. E. (2018). A Hybrid Finite Element-Spectral Boundary Integral Approach: Applications to Dynamic Rupture Simulations in Unbounded Domains. Journal of Analytical and Numerical Methods in Geomechanics, Volume 43, Issue 1, Pages 317-338.

29 Ma X., & Elbanna A. E. (2019). Dynamic Rupture Propagation on Fault Planes with Explicit Representation of Short Branches. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 523, 115702..

30 Abdelmeguid, M., Ma, X., & Elbanna, A. E. (2019). A Novel Hybrid Finite Element-Spectral Boundary Integral Scheme for Modeling Earthquake Cycles: Application to Rate and State Faults with Low-Velocity Zones. Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume 124, Issue 12, Pages 12854-12881..

33 Erickson, B. A., et al., including Elbanna, A. (2020). The community code verification exercise for simulating sequences of earthquakes and aseismic slip (SEAS). Seismological Research Letters, 91(2A), 874-890..

38 Elbanna, A., Abdelmeguid, M., Ma, X., et al. (2021). Anatomy of strike-slip fault tsunami genesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(19)..

41 Albertini, G., Elbanna, A. E., & Kammer, D. S. (2021). A three-dimensional hybrid finite element spectral boundary integral method for modeling earthquakes in complex unbounded domains. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 122(23), 6905-6923..

43 Mia, M. S., Abdelmeguid, M., & Elbanna, A. E. (2022). Spatio-temporal clustering of seismicity enabled by off-fault plasticity. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(8), e2021GL097601..

44 Amlani, F., Bhat, H. S., Simons, W. J. F., Schubnel, A., Vigny, C., Rosakis, A. J., Efendi, J., Elbanna, A., Abidin, H. Z. (2022). Supershear shock front contribution to the tsunami from the 2018 Mw 7.5 Palu, Indonesia earthquake. Geophysical Journal International, 230(3), 2089-2097..

45 Abdelmeguid, M., & Elbanna, A. (2022). Sequences of seismic and aseismic slip on bimaterial faults show dominant rupture asymmetry and potential for elevated seismic hazard. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 593, 117648..

46 Abdelmeguid, M., & Elbanna, A. (2022). Modeling Sequences of Earthquakes and Aseismic Slip (SEAS) in Elasto-plastic Fault Zones with A Hybrid Finite Element Spectral Boundary Integral scheme. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, e2022JB024548..

47 Fei, F., Mia, M. S., Elbanna, A. E., & Choo, J. (2022). A phase field model for quasi-dynamic nucleation, growth, and propagation of rate and state faults. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Volume 47, Issue 2..

48 Erickson, B. A., Jiang, J., Lambert, V., Abdelmeguid, M., Almquist, M., Ampuero, J. P., ... & Yang, Y. (2023). Incorporating Full Elastodynamic Effects and Dipping Fault Geometries in Community Code Verification Exercises for Simulations of Earthquake Sequences and Aseismic Slip (SEAS). Bulletin of Seismological Society of America (In press).

49  Mia, M. S., Abdelmeguid, M., & Elbanna, A. E. (2023). The spectrum of fault slip in elastoplastic fault zones. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 619, 118310..

51 Abdelmeguid, M., Zhao, C., Yalcinkaya, E., Gazetas, G., Elbanna, A., & Rosakis, A. (2023). Dynamics of episodic supershear in the 2023 M7.8 Kahramanmaraş/Pazarcik earthquake, revealed by near-field records and computational modeling. Communications Earth and Environment, 456.

52 Mia, S., Abdelmeguid, M., Harris, R., & Elbanna, A. E. (2024). Rupture Jumping and Seismic Complexity in Models of Earthquake Cycles for Fault Stepovers with Off-Fault Plasticity. Bulletin of Seismological Society of America, https://doi.org/10.1785/0120230249..

53 Zhao, C., Mia, M., Elbanna, A. E., & Ben-Zion, Y. (2024). Dynamic Rupture Propagation with distributed and discrete damage. Mechanics of Materials, Volume 198, November 2024, 105139..

54 Abdelmeguid, M., Rosakis, A., & Elbanna, A. E. (2024). Ground Motion Characteristics of sub-Rayleigh and Supershear Ruptures in the presence of Sediment Layers. Geophysics Journal International, Volume 240, Issue 2, February 2025, Pages 967-987..

55 Abdelmeguid, M., Mia, M. S., & Elbanna, A. E. (2024). On the Interplay Between Distributed Bulk Plasticity and Local Fault Slip in Evolving Fault Zone Complexity. Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 51, Issue 14..

Keywords: Damage, fracture, rate dependence, toughness, topology, poroelasticity, quasi-continuum methods, network theory.

The long term objective of this research is to develop a rigorous understanding for the effect of micro-structure and local topology on deformation and failure of networked materials. Specific systems of interest include polymer networks as arising in hydrogels and soft tissues and trabecular networks in human bone. Current efforts focus on multi-scale constitutive modeling and fracture in soft materials including rate dependence, damage evolution, poro-mechanical effects and structure-function relations as well as the development of quasi-continuum models for domain decomposition in fractured lattice-like materials.

Publications:

4 Elbanna A. E., and Carlson J. M. (2013). Dynamics of Polymer Molecules with Sacrificial Bond and Hidden Length Systems: Towards a Physically-Based Mesoscopic Constitutive Law. PLoS ONE 8(4): e56118. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0056118.

5 Lieou C. K. C., Elbanna A. E., and Carlson J. M. (2013). Sacrificial bonds and hidden length in biomaterials: a kinetic, constitutive description of strength and toughness in bone. Phys. Rev. E 88, 012703 [10 pages]..

6 Wang, W., & Elbanna, A. (2014). Crack propagation in bone on the scale of mineralized collagen fibrils: role of polymers with sacrificial bonds and hidden length. Bone, 68, 20-31 [11 pages]..

18 Lopez-Berganza, J. A., Song, R., Elbanna, A., & Espinosa-Marzal, R. M. (2017). Calcium carbonate with nanogranular microstructure yields enhanced toughness. Nanoscale, 9(43), 16689-16699.

19 Kothari K., Hu, Y., Gupta, S., & Elbanna A. E. (2017). Mechanical response of 2D polymer networks: role of topology, rate dependence, and damage accumulation. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 85(3), 031008 (Jan 24, 2018) (11 pages) doi:10.1115/1.4038883.

22 Ghareeb A., & Elbanna A. E. (2018). On the role of the plaque porous structure on Mussel adhesion: Implications for adhesion control using bulk patterning. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 85(12):121003-121003-11. doi: 10.1115/1.4041223.

24 Ghareeb, A., & Elbanna, A. (2019). Extreme enhancement of interfacial adhesion by bulk patterning of sacrificial cuts. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 28, 22-30..

25 Mondal, A., Nguyen, C., Ma, X., Elbanna, A., & Carlson, J. (2019). Network models for characterization of trabecular bone. Physical Review E, 99(4), 042406..

26 Ghareeb, A., & Elbanna, A. (2019). Adhesion Asymmetry in Peeling of Thin Films with Homogeneous Material Properties: A Geometry-Inspired Design Paradigm. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 86(7), 071005.

31 Ghareeb, A., & Elbanna, A. (2020). An Adaptive Quasi-Continuum Approach for Modeling Fracture in Networked Materials: Application to Modeling of Polymer Networks. Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Volume 137, April 2020, 103819..

32 Nguyen, C., Peetz, D., Elbanna, A., & Jean M. Carlson. (2019). Characterization of fracture in topology-optimized bioinspired networks. Physical Review E 100, 042402..

34 Peetz, D., & Elbanna, A. (2020). On the use of multigrid preconditioners for topology optimization. Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, 1-19..

39 Ghareeb, A., & Elbanna, A. (2021). Modeling fracture in rate-dependent polymer networks: A quasicontinuum approach. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 88(11)..

Keywords: Elastodynamics, nonlinear waves, band gaps, transformation methods, resonance phenomena, negative stiffness systems

The primary objective of this research is to design materials with adaptive, tunable and extreme elastodynamic properties using principles from biology and geophysics that will transform applications in impact resistance, wave modulation, and earthquake engineering. Current efforts focus on theoretical understanding of the nature of mechanical band gaps, elastodynamic response of layered systems, novel applications of transformation elastodynamics, and modeling of negative stiffness structural elements.

Publications:

9 Chen, Q., & Elbanna, A. (2015). Tension-induced tunable corrugation in two-phase soft composites: Mechanisms and implications. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 4, 26-37..

12 Yang, Z., Chen, Q., Elbanna, A. E., & Kim, S. (2016). Transfer printing enabled soft composite films for tunable surface topography. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 7, 145-153..

14 Chen, Q., & Elbanna, A. (2016). Modulating elastic band gap structure in layered soft composites using sacrificial interfaces. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 83(11), 111009 [8 pages].

17 Chen Q., & Elbanna A. E. (2017). Emergent wave phenomena in coupled elastic bars: from extreme damping to realization of elastodynamic switchers. Nature Scientific Reports 7.

20 Hyunh, P., Zhu, H., Chen, Q., & Elbanna, A. (2018). Data-Driven Estimation of Frequency Response from Ambient Synchrophasor Measurements. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, doi: 10.1109/TPWRS.2018.2832838.

27 Chen, Q., & Elbanna, A. (2019). On the duality of complex geometry and material heterogeneities in linear elastodynamics. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 168, 203-210..

35 Hajarolasvadi, S., & Elbanna, A. (2021). Dispersion properties and dynamics of ladder-like meta-chains. Extreme Mechanics Letters, Volume 43, February 2021, 101133..

50 Hajarolasvadi, S., Celli, P., Kim, B., Elbanna, A. E., & Daraio, C. (2023). Experimental evidence of amplitude-dependent surface wave dispersion via nonlinear contact resonances. Applied Physics Letters, 123(8)..

Keywords: Covid-19, epidemiology, compartmental models, age-infection model, Bayesian inversion, human behavior

The primary objective of this research is to model dynamics of infectious disease transmission in human population accounting for dyanmical social interactions, population heterogeneity, and aerosol physics. Current efforts focus on developing both agent-based and population-based models of transmission dynamics, fusion of data and models, and bayesian inversion for infering transmission parameters. 

Publications:

36 Wong, G. N., et al., including Elbanna, A. (2020). Modeling COVID-19 dynamics in Illinois under nonpharmaceutical interventions. Physical Review X, 10(4), 041033..

37 Tkachenko, A. V., et al., including Elbanna, A. (2021). Time-dependent heterogeneity leads to transient suppression of the COVID-19 epidemic, not herd immunity. PNAS, 118(17), e2015972118..

40 Tkachenko, A. V., Maslov, S., Wang, T., Elbanna, A., Wong, G. N., & Goldenfeld, N. (2021). Stochastic social behavior coupled to COVID-19 dynamics leads to waves, plateaus, and an endemic state. Elife, 10, e68341..

42 Ranoa, D. R. E., Holland, R. L., Alnaji, F. G., Green, K. J., Wang, L., Fredrickson, R. L., ... & Burke, M. D. (2022). Mitigation of SARS-CoV-2 transmission at a large public university. Nature Communications, 13(1), 1-16.

Time-sensitive operational preprints: 

**Elbanna, A. (2022). Estimation of the ascertainment bias in Covid case detection during the Omicron wave. medRxiv, 2022-04.

**Elbanna, A., & Goldenfeld, N. (2021). Frequency of surveillance testing necessary to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2. arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.00451.

**Weiner, Z. J., Wong, G. N., Elbanna, A., Tkachenko, A. V., Maslov, S., & Goldenfeld, N. (2020). Projections and early-warning signals of a second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Illinois. medRxiv, 2020-07.

**Elbanna, Ahmed, George N. Wong, Zach J. Weiner, Tong Wang, Hantao Zhang, Zhiru Liu, Alexei Tkachenko, Sergei Maslov, and Nigel Goldenfeld. "Entry screening and multi-layer mitigation of COVID-19 cases for a safe university reopening." MedRxiv (2020): 2020-08.

1 E. B. Mashaly, Safar S., & Elbanna, A. (2005). Finite element analysis of tapered haunched connections. Journal of Engineering and Applied Science, 52(5), 921-940.

2 E. B. Mashaly, Safar S., & Elbanna, A. (2005). Parametric analysis and design of tapered haunched connections. Journal of Engineering and Applied Science, 52(6), 1103-1122.

56 Schissler, L. R., Ahershinge, S., Ibrahim, A. E., Fahnestock, L. A., LaFave, J. M., & Elbanna, A. E. (2024). Report on Agency Survey and National Bridge Inventory Analysis for Damaged Steel Girders (No. FHWA-ICT-24-021). Illinois Center for Transportation.

In-progress: 

**Ibrahim, A. E., Schissler, L. R., Elbanna, A. E., Fahnestock, L. A., & LaFave, J. M. (2025). Load Rating Framework for Damaged Steel I-Girder Bridges due to Overheight Vehicle Strikes.

**Ibrahim, A. E., Schissler, L. R., Elbanna, A. E., Fahnestock, L. A., & LaFave, J. M. (2025). Explainable Machine Learning for Prediction of Load-carrying Capacity of Damaged Steel Girders.