Self-healing structural materials

Chair:

Nima Rahbar, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Summary:

The goal of this symposium is to bring together researchers working on various aspects of mechanics, micro and nanostructure, and synthesis and processing of self-healing structural materials and structures including but not limited to following themes: 1. Modeling and simulation of healing mechanisms in biological materials, 2. Materials design, synthesis and processing of self-healing structural materials, 3. Experimental investigation of bio-inspired or biological materials. Creation of self-healing load carrying materials is one of the ultimate goals of material science. This symposium attempts to provide a forum that brings together mechanicians, experimentalists and materials researchers who investigate the mechanisms of self-healing in biological materials with the aim to create novel self-healing structural materials. Inspiration from biology is particularly emphasized, and the role of molecular and atomic scale behavior and interactions in the biosystems will be discussed in the context of mechanical response of the biological or bio-inspired materials.