9624452 Thouless An objective of this CAREER development award is to establish a research program in structural adhesives. The proposed research will combine experimental and theoretical aspects in a micro-mechanical approach to understanding the mechanical behavior of adhesive joints. The research will provide a fundamental and unified understanding of the strength of adhesive joints and it will also address the critical need in the automotive industry to understand how to optimize the energy-absorbing capacity of adhesively bonded structures. The educational plan involves establishing multi-disciplinary courses in which physics based aspects of materials science are combined with traditional mechanics aspects for the undergraduate and graduate curriculum. ***
