Mechanics and Materials

Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs): Gradation in elastic and plastic properties offers a good venue for designing materials with a tunable combination of mechanical properties. Such functional gradients are commonly observed in natural materials such as bamboos and shells, and in biogical materials such as bones and teeth. I am interested in investigating frictional contact response of materials with functional gradient in mechanical properties with a focus of their applications as wear-resistant surfaces in engineering and biomedical applications.

Related Work:

Nanocrystalline FGMs: Gradient in strength via recourse to grain-size induced plasticity can lead to optimal combination of strength, ductility, and contact-damage resistance. I established a systematic methodology to quantify the mechanics of steady-state frictional sliding response for plastically graded materials. Specifically, I examined the effect of linear gradient in yield stress through parametric finite-element computation and through indentation and scratch experiments.

References:

1. Prasad A, Dao M, Suresh S (2009). Steady-State Frictional Sliding Contact on Surfaces of Plastically Graded Materials. Acta Materialia, Volume 57, Issue 2, Pages 511-524.[pdf]

2. Dao M, Bellemare SC, Prasad A, Suresh S (2007). Mechanics of Frictional Sliding, MRS Fall meeting, Boston.

3. Prasad A, Suresh S (2007). Strategies to Enhance Contact Damage Resistance through Grain-size Gradient and Nanocrystalline Materials. 10^th Annual Research Review at MIT Materials Processing Center, Cambridge, USA.

4. Prasad A, Choi I, Suresh S (2006). Strategies to Enhance Surface Damage Resistance. 8^th International Conference on Nanostructured Materials, Bangalore, India, August 2006.