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Events

• Jan

  4

  SPREE Seminar Series - Jia-Liang Le

  McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  11:00 AM A230, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  Abstract:

  Continuum finite element (FE) modeling of damage and failure of quasibrittle structures suffers from the spurious mesh sensitivity due to strain localization. This issue has largely been addressed for deterministic analysis through the development of localization limiters. This talk will present a mechanism-based model to mitigate the mesh sensitivity in stochastic FE simulations of quasibrittle fracture. The interest is placed on the analysis of large-size structures, where the mesh size is conveniently chosen to be larger than the width of the fracture process zone as well as the correlation length of the random fields of material properties. The present model is formulated within the framework of continuum damage mechanics. Two localization parameters are introduced to describe the evolution of the damage pattern of finite elements. These parameters are used to guide the energy regularization of the constitutive law, as well as to formulate the mesh-dependent probability distribution functions of constitutive properties. The model is applied to simulate the stochastic failure behaviors of quasibrittle structures of different geometries featuring different failure processes including damage initiation, localization, and propagation. It is shown that using fixed probability distribution functions of constitutive properties could lead to strong mesh dependence of the predicted mean and variance of the structural load capacity. To mitigate the spurious mesh sensitivity, one would need to consider the fact that the probability distribution functions of constitutive properties of the finite element are intimately related to the damage pattern, which may evolve during the loading process. The extension of the model to random field representations of material properties will also be discussed.

  Short bio:

  Dr. Jia-Liang Le is Professor and Associate Head of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honors) and Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering from the National University of Singapore, and a Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from Northwestern University. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Minnesota. His research interests include fracture mechanics, probabilistic mechanics, scaling, computational mechanics, and structural reliability. He published two books and over 70 journal papers. He has received several research awards including the Army Research Office Young Investigator Award, the EMI Leonardo da Vinci Award from ASCE, the Society of Engineering Science Young Investigator Medal, and the Early Achievement Research Award from the International Association for Structural Safety and Reliability (IASSAR).

  more less

  TIME Wednesday, January 4, 2023 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Stephanie Lukas    stephanie.lukas@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

• Sep

  8

  Welcome & Breakfast for New McCormick PhD Students

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  9:00 AM LR2 & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  Enjoy a welcome from Dean Christopher A. Schuh and other McCormick leaders, and receive a Northwestern Engineering T-shirt. A free light breakfast on the Tech East Plaza will follow.

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  TIME Monday, September 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

  LOCATION LR2 & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

• Sep

  12

  New Undergraduate Fall 2025 Registration

  University Academic Calendar

  All Day

  EVENT DETAILS

  New Undergraduate Fall 2025 Registration

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  TIME Friday, September 12, 2025

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  CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR University Academic Calendar

• Sep

  15

  Welcome & Luncheon for New Full-time Graduate Students

  McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  11:00 AM Ryan Auditorium & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  Enjoy a welcome from Dean Christopher A. Schuh and other McCormick leaders, and receive a Northwestern Engineering T-shirt. A free lunch on the Tech East Plaza will follow.

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  TIME Monday, September 15, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

  LOCATION Ryan Auditorium & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

• Sep

  16

  Fall Classes Begin. Change of Registration (Drop/Add) Late registration for returning students begins

  University Academic Calendar

  All Day

  EVENT DETAILS

  Fall Classes Begin. Change of Registration (Drop/Add) Late registration for returning students begins

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  TIME Tuesday, September 16, 2025

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  CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR University Academic Calendar

• Sep

  24

  SPREE Seminar

  McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  11:00 AM A230, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  TBA

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  TIME Wednesday, September 24, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

• Sep

  26

  EES Seminar

  McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  2:00 PM A230, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  TBA

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  TIME Friday, September 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

  LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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  CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

• Sep

  29

  AED-MPM Seminar

  McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  11:00 AM A230, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  TBA

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  TIME Monday, September 29, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

  ADD TO CALENDAR

  CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

• Oct

  1

  SPREE Seminar

  McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)

  11:00 AM A230, Technological Institute

  EVENT DETAILS

  TBA

  more less

  TIME Wednesday, October 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

  LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

  ADD TO CALENDAR

  CONTACT Andrew Liguori    andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL

  CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)