L. Catherine Brinson

Jerome B. Cohen Professor
Materials Science and Engineering
Cahir, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Phone: (847) 467-2347
Fax: (847) 510-0540
E-mail: cbrinson@northwestern.edu

Web Pages:

http://www.mech.northwestern.edu/fac/brinson/

Professor Brinson's research interests lie in the study of advanced material systems and developing new methods to characterize and to model material behavior.

The objective of Professor Brinson's research is to characterize and model advanced materials systems, at scales spanning the range of molecular interactions, micromechanical and macroscopic behavior. Specific current and future interests include characterization of nanoparticle reinforced polymers, the phase transformation response of shape memory alloys, aging in polymeric based systems, and investigation of microstructure effects on properties of microporous materials for bioengineering. The research encompasses analytical, numerical and experimental investigation. Analytical micromechanics methods, finite element simulations of scanned material microstructures, and results from molecular level simulations are combined with continuum mechanics techniques to provide microstructurally based prediction of macroscopic environmental-mechanical response. On the experimental side, smaller scale testing includes optical and electron microscopy of samples with in situ loading, for example examining reorientation of martensitic variants with applied load in shape memory alloys. Macroscopic scale testing of samples in environmentally controlled chambers are also performed and the results of experiments are used to refine and better define models for advanced materials.