Tippur 9622055 The proposed research is aimed at developing a fundamental knowledge base concerning mechanical integrity, particularly fracture, in a class of new materials called Functionally Graded Materials (FGM). Failure characterization and performance evaluation relative to piecewise-homogeneous compositions and identification of appropriate materials property gradients for best performance are currently lacking. The proposed research will provide full-field information about the nature of stresses and deformations near cracks in FGMs under quasi-static and dynamic loading conditions. A relatively new optical technique called "Coherent Gradient Sensing" (CGS) will be used for the direct measurement of crack tip displacement components and of the local mixed-mode deformations as a function of the applied loading. ***
