L. Catherine Brinson
Chair of Mechanical Engineering
Jerome B. Cohen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Education
Ph.D. Applied Mechanics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
M.S. Applied Mechanics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
B.S. Engineering Science and Mechanics (summa cum laude), Virgina Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, VA
Research Interests
Mechanics of Advanced Materials
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 materials of interest all exhibit interesting hierarchical structural features, necessitating a consideration of length scales spanning the range of molecular interactions, micromechanical and macroscopic behavior. Hierarchical structure also leads to challenges in experimental analysis and constitutive descriptions and a reassessment of traditional concepts of deformation.
Specific current and future interests include the constitutive modeling of shape memory alloys, aging in polymeric based systems, nanomechanics of nano-reinforced polymers, investigation of microstructure effects on properties of microporous materials for bioengineering, and mechanics of soft tissue. 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. Nanoscale mechanical testing using probe microscopy is of exceptional interest for understanding local polymer behavior near surfaces and functional nanoparticles. Macroscopic scale testing is also performed. Experimental and modeling approaches are used hand-in-hand to better understand, predict and design hierarchical response of advanced materials.
Significant Recognition
- Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineering, 2009
- Fellow, Society for Engineering Science, 2007
- Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Prize, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 2006-07
- President of the Society of Engineering Science, 1999; Vice-President, 1998
- DSSG - Defense Science Study Group, Institute for Defense Analysis, 1998-2000
- NSF CAREER Award, 1995-99 ASEE
- ASEE New Mechanics Educator Award, 1995
- ASME Thomas JR Hughes Special Achievement Award for Young Investigators, Applied Mechanics Division, 2003
- New Mechanics Educator Award, 1995
Significant Professional Service
- National Materials Advisory Board member, Jan. 2005 - Dec. 2010
- President of the Society of Engineering Science, 1999
- DSSG - Defense Science Study Group, Institute for Defense Analysis, 1998-2000
In the Classroom
Professor Brinson has been integrally involved in the development of the novel Engineering First undergraduate curriculum at Northwestern University. She taught enhanced sections of sophomore level "mechanics of materials" where matrix methods of structural analysis were integrated using finite element syntax. This course formed a basis for the second course in the Engineering Analysis sequence, Mechanics. Professor Brinson was also a co-developer of the third course in the EA sequence, Dynamics of Systems. The four course Engineering Analysis sequence teaches freshman engineering students the fundamentals of matrix algebra, differential equations, mechanics, dynamics, and computer programming in an integrated fashion with emphasis on engineering applications. Professor Brinson has also developed a graduate course entitled Mechanics of Advanced Materials, in which microscale mechanisms and their relation to macroscopic behavior and mathematical constitutive modeling for advanced material systems is developed, with emphasis on polymer viscoelasticity and shape memory materials. Professor Brinson is especially interested in new modes of teaching and learning to expand the educational frontier.
Selected Publications
1. K Putz, OC Compton, MJ Palmeri, ST Nguyen, LC Brinson, High Nanofiller-Content Graphene Oxide-Polymer Nanocomposites via Vacuum- Assisted Self-Assembly, Adv Funct Mat, 2010.
2. M. Panico, S. Narayanan, LC Brinson, Simulations of Tensile Failure in Glassy Polymers: Effect of Cross-link Density, Modelling Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng, vol 18, 055005, 2010.
3. R. Qiao and L. C. Brinson, Simulation of interphase percolation and gradients in polymer nanocomposites, Composite Science and Technology, vol 69, 491-499, 2009.
4. K. Putz, M. Palmeri, R. B. Cohn, R. Andrews, L. C. Brinson, Effect of cross-link density on interphase creation in polymer nanocomposites, 41:18. 6752-6756, Macromolecules, 2008.
5. T. Ramanathan, A. A. Abdala, S. Stankovich, D. A. Dikin, M. Herrera-Alonso, R. D. Piner, D. H. Adamson, J. Liu, R. S. Ruoff, S. T. Nguyen, I. lhan A. Aksay, R. K. Prudhomme, L. C. Brinson, Functionalized Graphene Sheets for Polymer Nanocomposites, Nature:Nanotechnology, vol 3:6, pp. 327-331, (2008).
6. F. Yuan, JD Almer, DR Haeffner, DC Dunand, LC Brinson, Numerical Modeling for the Elastic Properties of Collagen Fibril, to appear Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 2010.
7. OC Compton, DA Dikin, KW Putz, LC Brinson, and ST Nguyen, Electrically Conductive “Alkylated” Graphene Paper via Chemical Reduction of Amine- Functionalized Graphene Oxide Paper, Advanced Materials, 22:8, 892, 2009.
8. H. Shen, H. Li, L. C. Brinson, Effect of Microstructural Configurations on the Mechanical Responses of Porous Titanium: A Numerical Design of Experiment Analysis for Orthopedic Applications, J. Eng. Mater. Tech., vol 40:9, pp. 708-720, 2008.
9. M. Panico, L. C. Brinson, A three-dimensional phenomenological model for martensite reorientation in shape memory alloys, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, v. 55, 2491-2511, (2007).
10. L. C. Brinson, I. Schmidt, R. Lammering, Micro and Macromechanical Investigations of Transformation Behavior of a Polycrystalline NiTi Shape Memory Alloy Using in situ Optical Microscopy, J. Mech. Physics of Solids, vol. 52:7, pp. 1549-1571 (2004).
