The proposed work deals with the development of a meso-scale modeling framework for plasticity of metals and metal matrix composites and the connection between the dislocation and the continuum scales. The goal is to identify the fundamental aspects at these different scales and to gain understanding of how the different scales influence the overall mechanical behavior of materials. Scale bridging is not a novel approach but more work needs to be done in this area and the proposed work promises to make a significant contribution to the field. The ongoing collaboration with Professor Hirth of Washington State University and with Dr. Thomson of NIST are definite pluses for the proposed research. The proposed work is very ambitious and covers many aspects of materials behavior. If successful the outcome of this research will have a significant impact on future technological advances in designing and developing new materials with desirable engineering properties.
