This proposal requests funding for a workshop to be held at the Georgia Tech Lorraine campus in Metz, France, on the topic of damping of advanced materials. This workshop will bring together experts from mechanics, vibroaccoustics, and ultrasonic characterization to catalyze interdisciplinary work on the damping of advanced materials such as shape-memory alloys, polymer composites, and foams. The Georgia Tech participants bring strength in structural vibrations and ultrasonics, while the University of Metz brings strength in multi-scale modeling.
The list of participants includes experts in mechanics, vibroaccoustics, and ultrasonic characterization from eight universities in the US and from six foreign countries. Papers generated from this conference will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology. The proposal includes funding for four graduate students and two junior researchers to attend the workshop, and there is good representation of under-represented groups in the list of participants. This workshop will catalyze international collaborations between groups who have typically not collaborated in their research on damping. The workshop has also received support from the University of Metz and the regional government of Lorraine in France.