Knowles Lecture

Friday, May 31, 2024, 9:00am - 4:30pm
135 Gates•Thomas, Jim & Sandy Hall Auditorium

The 14th annual James K. Knowles Lectures and Caltech Solid Mechanics Symposium will be held on Friday, May 31, 2024, in the Jim & Sandy Hall Auditorium in Gates•Thomas. The James K. Knowles Lecture will be followed by the Solid Mechanics Symposium with presentations by current Caltech graduate students and postdocs.

The Lectures and Symposium are in memory of James K. Knowles, William J. Keenan, Jr. Professor of Applied Mechanics, Emeritus, who passed away on November 1, 2009. He is well known for his research contributions to the theory of nonlinear elasticity and the mathematical theories of materials and structures. Dr. Knowles inspired and influenced generations of students and scholars and authored over one hundred journal publications, as well as a textbook for graduate students entitled Linear Vector Spaces and Cartesian Tensors (Oxford University Press).

The Lectures and Symposium will be held annually and are made possible by the Division of Engineering and Applied Science and the support of family, friends and colleagues through donations to the James K. Knowles Memorial Fund.

James K. Knowles Lecture

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Zhigang Suo, Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett Professor of Mechanics and Materials, Harvard University

Topology and chemistry determine mechanical properties of polymers

The aspiration to develop polymers for sustainability, as well as functions, instigates advances in polymer science. This seminar draws upon recent experience in my group. We discover that a tanglemer, a polymer network in which entanglements greatly outnumber crosslinks, simultaneously achieves high modulus and high fatigue threshold. As a second example, a composite of multiple species of polymers separate into phases, but the coarsening of the phases can be arrested, leading to stable nanocomposites. These examples illustrate how topology and chemistry determine mechanical properties of polymers.

Zhigang Suo is Allen E. and Marilyn M. Puckett Professor of Mechanics and Materials at Harvard University. He earned a bachelor's degree from Xi'an Jiaotong University in 1985, and a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University in 1989. Suo joined the faculty of the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1989, Princeton University in 1997, and Harvard University in 2003. His research centers on the mechanical behavior of materials.