Final Report Summary - INTERFACES (Mechanical modeling of interfaces in advanced materials and structures)
Interfaces are ubiquitous in engineering systems and the most relevant phenomena that determine their performance are fracture and contact. In this project, we studied both phenomena computationally and experimentally for complex interfaces. By accounting for the detailed geometry and mechanical characteristics of these interfaces at different scales of observation, we could derive macroscopic descriptions of these phenomena as results of the computations, rather than based on a-priori postulated laws. Moreover, we developed novel computational tools that enable more accurate, flexible and efficient simulations of fracture and contact than previously possible.