MS- 3-9
Mini-symposium title
3-9 – Generalized Continua – New Developments and Applications
Organisers
Panagiotis Gourgiotis (University of Thessaly), Enrico Radi (University of Modena), Andrea Nobili (University of Modena)
Mini-symposium description
Generalized continuum theories are nowadays recognized as a powerful tool for the description of the mechanical behaviour of materials with heterogeneous microstructures. Several generalized continuum theories have been developed to model the material microstructure and capture the related experimentally observed size effects ranging from couple-stress and strain-gradient theories to higher order media like the Cosserat, micromorphic and multipolar continua that introduce additional kinematical degrees of freedom. Applications of generalized continua include, among others, the design of metamaterials used in biomechanics and acoustics, the development of flexoelectric structures employed in MEMS, mechanics of growing tissues, modelling fracture in ceramic materials, and indentation at small scales.
The purpose of this mini-symposium is to bring together researchers working in the area of generalized continua and to disseminate the new developments and applications in the field. The session is open to new advances in the field of generalized continua from the theoretical, computational and experimental perspectives. Topics of the mini-symposium include:
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Micromechanics of fracture and contact
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Wave propagation in materials with microstructure
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Strain gradient elasticity and plasticity approaches
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Cosserat and micromorphic approaches
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Flexoelectricity
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Instabilities in gradient type materials
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Homogenization theory and generalized continua