Polymer Mechanics

Catalog description

This course will provide foundations of polymer mechanics building from the basics of mechanics of materials. The focus will be split between experimental methods/data interpretation and modeling approaches. Topics will include hyper-elasticity, viscoelasticity, glass transition temperature, and plasticity with applications to both synthetic and biological materials. There will also be a scientific literature reading component through which students will be able to pick their own focus areas in the latter part of the semester.