The goal of this workshop is to bring theorists who work on fractal and hierarchical structures together with applied-material scientists (experimentalists and theorists) in order to seek new methods to address problems that are at the forefront of materials research in two particular topics. The workshop will aim to identify and define the relevant problems and focus on ways to tackle them.
Crack dynamics and the morphology of fracture surfaces - Much experimental evidence points to fractal characteristics of rough fracture surfaces but little is known on how to systematically relate the morphological information to material properties. This issue is directly relevant to the construction and processing of new materials where mechanical properties are significant. The problem will be addressed at three levels: a) Usefully characterize fracture surfaces, b) Correlate between material properties and the morphology, and, to facilitate this, c) Understand the underlying dynamics that generate the fractal morphology.
Hierarchical materials - Textured and hierarchical materials are becoming increasingly common and it is essential to be able to deduce effective properties from the microstructure. The relevant properties can be mechanical, electronic, magnetic, current and heat conductive, shape-memory, etc.. A fundamental step toward this goal is to tailor the characterization method to facilitate predictions of specific properties from the micro- and meso-structures. Fractal theorists may have the tools to provide useful characterization schemes, while materials scientists are in a position to define the practical problems and provide the specifications required for state-of-the-art characterization tools.
The workshop will last three days. Each half-day will open with an overview talk, relating the main hurdles in the way of progress in a particular topic and aiming to stimulate discussions. A small number of short talks that are relevant to the problems will be given, but the primary focus will be on extended pannel discussions to brainstorm the presented problems.
C. Doering, R. Blumenfeld, J. S. Langer, M. Marder, S. J. Zhou, J. H. Simmons, W. G. Knauss, J. J. Mecholsky, D. A. Lange, K. Ravi-Chandar, B. B. Mandelbrot, J. A. Krumhansl, S. I. Wright, J. E. Martin, A. Redondo, R. L. Orbach, J. E. Sethna, A. Saxena, D. C. Dunand, M. Wuttig, R. D. James, A. R. Bishop
To keep the workshop focused it will be limited to about 50 participants. A small number of short talks will be selected from submitted applications on the basis of their potential to highlight the crucial problems and stimulate discussions. World Scientific Publishing Co. has already expressed a strong interest in collecting the proceedings of this meeting into a book that can hopefully set new directions in these and related fields.
Raphael Blumenfeld
MS B258
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, NM 87545
Tel: (505) 665-8119
Fax: (505) 665-2659
Email: RAFI@GOSHAWK.LANL.GOV, RAFI@VIKING.LANL.GOV
Alan R. Bishop
MS B262
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, NM 87545
Tel: (505) 667-6491
Fax: (505) 665-3003
Email: ARB@DOVE.LANL.GOV