Doctor of Philosophy in Aerospace Engineering - Structural Mechanics and Materials

This research group seeks to understand and predict the material and related structure behavior in environments and in applications that are unique to aerospace engineering. Specific areas of inquiry include computational mechanics, composite structures, fracture and fatigue, damage tolerance and failure prediction, experimental mechanics, thermal and environmental effects and non-destructive evaluation, structural stability (buckling/postbuckling), adaptive structures, structural health monitoring, and system identification. The group actively addresses many longstanding research issues, including conventional metallic aero-structures, such as life extension in aging aircraft and proper methods of vibration control. As standards for safety, performance, and lifecycle costs continually evolve, SMM is committed to evaluating and incorporating new, advanced materials such as composites with toughened thermosetting matrices, thermoplastic composites, and metal-matrix or ceramic-matrix composites. The team has focused on damage tolerance/fatigue/fracture, airworthiness, impact-resistance, efficient and accurate computation tools (finite elements, etc.), modeling of the mechanics of manufacturing, new structural design concepts (ply drop-off, sandwich construction, elastic tailoring), anisotropic elasticity and plate/shell higher-order or asymptotic theories, and diagnostic methods including C-scan, acoustic emission, and X-ray.

Evidence of award of a bachelor's degree, its equivalent, or higher degree (prior to matriculation) from a regionally accredited institution, demonstrated academic excellence, and evidence of experience in the selected field of graduate study.

IELTS - 7 (minimum band score for Reading, Listening, and Speaking is 6.5, minimum band score for Writing is 5.5), TOEFL iBT - 90 (each section must score 19 or higher), TOEFL PBT - 577.