Prof. Pania Newell
Department of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Utah

To Account for Tiny Pores, or Not to Account: That Is the Question in Macroscopic Fracture Modeling

ABSTRACT: Porous materials are integral to modern life, playing a pivotal role across a wide range of scientific and engineering fields. Despite their presence in both natural and engineered systems, the complex physics that govern these materials, particularly their fracture behavior, remain poorly understood. How these materials fail under stress, influenced by their complex internal structures, directly impacts their performance and long-term durability. The question, however, is to what extent we should account for the underlying porous structures when our primary focus is on the macroscopic fracture response of the material. In this talk, Professor Newell will begin by providing a brief overview of porous materials, highlighting their significance and diverse applications across various scientific and engineering domains. Professor Newell will then discuss her recent work on topological analysis, focusing on its connection to mechanical and fracture properties at the molecular scale. Next, there will be a discussion on how to bridge the gap from nano to macroscale by applying phase-field fracture models. The impact of micropores on macroscopic fracture by employing asymptotic homogenization techniques in conjunction with phase-field fracture modeling will also be explored. Finally, Professor Newell will conclude by discussing how these insights can inform the design and discovery of novel materials.

BIOGRAPHY: Pania Newell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and an elected affiliate of Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute at the University of Utah (UoU). Before joining the UoU, she was a senior member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories. Her research interest lies at the interface of mechanics and material sciences. In particular, she is interested in multi-scale, multi-physics phenomena in heterogeneous porous materials through developing theoretical, computational, and experimental frameworks combined with scientific machine learning. She is also a co-host of a podcast called “This Academic Life”.