Special Section on Mechanics of Nanocomposites and Nanostructures

Abstract

This special section includes a selection of original research papers focused on the mechanics of nanocomposites and nanostructures. The September issue includes the first set of papers on the subject. Most of the papers were also presented at the Nanomechanics and Nanocomposites Symposium at the 2012 Conference of the Engineering Mechanics Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers held at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. The Nanomechanics and Nanocomposites Symposium provided a unique venue for researchers exploring the intersections of applied and computational mechanics within the field of materials science at the nanoscale. In this area, there are both tremendous challenges and opportunities. It is humbling to consider the limitations of our current knowledge about the structures and properties of materials at the smaller scales. On the other hand, it is bewildering to consider all of the possibilities for breakthroughs in the engineering disciplines that might be achieved by understanding our world and employing that knowledge to make advances in the materials we use. Although this symposium featured papers on a wide variety of topics, mechanics of materials at the nanoscale was a dominant theme discussed. Indeed, four of the five papers in this first series were devoted entirely to nanomechanical behavior of materials, and a majority of the remaining papers also focused, at least in part, on aspects of nanomechanics. Accordingly, we are pleased to publish this collection of papers in the similarly themed Journal of Nanomechanics and Micromechanics. We believe these papers represent some of the wide scope seen in the field.