9714914 Agarwal Description: This award is for the US-India research collaboration "Evaluation and Characterization of Composite Materials under Dynamic Loading Conditions". The co-investigators are Professors Shukla of the University of Rhode Island and B.D. Agarwal, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur. The PIs will carry out research utilizing the experimental facilities established under an earlier Special Foreign Currency grant that supported the development of a dynamic stress and fracture analysis laboratory at IIT, Kanpur. The facility is now ready and is being used for dynamic photoelastic experiments. The focus of the research is to further developments in the fabrication of transparent composites and to conduct new investigations on the dynamic fracture and damage growth in fiber reinforced composite materials. The experimental technique will utilize the principles of dynamic photography and fractography. Scope: This award will allow the PIs to continue the interesting work begun on the characterization of composite materials under dynamic loading conditions using the now completed experimental facility at Kanpur. The PIs have developed a unique technique for determining the internal strain state of composite materials. These materials are finding increasing application, many of which will involve dynamic loading. The research will provide new fundamental information about composite materials. The benefits are mutual and the research results will be published. ***
