Research

Research Areas

Our research focuses on the mechanics of damage, fracture, and interfaces in materials and structures. We combine experimental and computational mechanics with advanced sensing and nondestructive evaluation to understand how damage initiates, evolves, and leads to failure under mechanical and environmental loading.

Durability of Structures

We investigate the coupled mechanisms that drive deterioration and failure in concrete and other infrastructure materials under environmental and mechanical loading. Our research examines processes such as corrosion, chloride transport, freeze–thaw damage, cracking, and degradation of material interfaces to understand how damage develops and interacts over time. By linking material-scale mechanisms to structural performance, we aim to improve durability, service life, and resilience of infrastructure systems.

Computational Modeling

We develop experimental and computational mechanics approaches to understand and predict damage, fracture, and failure in materials and structures. Our work uses finite element analysis, fracture and damage mechanics, multiscale modeling, and interface mechanics to investigate complex responses that are difficult to capture experimentally. These models provide mechanistic insight into how damage initiates, evolves, and interacts across material and structural scales.

Damage Detection

We develop structural health monitoring and nondestructive evaluation methods to detect and quantify damage in civil infrastructure. Our research integrates ultrasonic sensing, infrared thermography, imaging, and other sensing technologies with signal processing and data-driven methods to identify cracking, debonding, corrosion-related damage, and other forms of deterioration. We aim to move beyond damage detection toward reliable assessment of damage severity and prediction of structural performance.

Interface & Fracture Mechanics

We investigate how cracks initiate and propagate within materials and across interfaces, with particular emphasis on cementitious materials, repair systems, and bonded structural components. Our research combines experimental mechanics, fracture mechanics, digital image correlation, and computational modeling to understand interfacial failure and the interaction between material heterogeneity, loading, and environmental exposure. The goal is to develop mechanics-based approaches for predicting failure and designing more durable repair and retrofit systems.

Repair & Retrofitting of Structures

We develop mechanics-based approaches to repair, strengthen, and modify existing concrete structures. Our research examines repair materials, post-installed anchorage systems, fiber-reinforced polymer systems, cementitious overlays, and other retrofit techniques under mechanical and environmental loading. By linking deterioration mechanisms, interface behavior, anchorage response, and structural performance, we aim to develop reliable strategies that restore capacity, extend service life, and improve the resilience of existing infrastructure.