Research at the Institute of Mechanics and Computational Mechanics

At IBNM, we develop multiscale and multiphysics modeling frameworks that capture the complex behavior of engineering materials across different spatial and temporal scales. Our research spans a wide range of materials and applications, including concrete, metals, and emerging technologies such as 3D-printed concrete. These materials often exhibit highly coupled mechanical, chemical, thermal, and environmental interactions that require advanced numerical strategies.

We integrate continuum methods, discrete modeling approaches, and accelerated computational techniques to resolve material behavior from the microstructure level up to full structural response. This allows us to study key mechanisms such as cracking, plasticity, degradation, and transport processes with high fidelity. Our multiscale methodologies also enable efficient homogenization and scale bridging, ensuring that microscale physics is accurately reflected in engineering-scale predictions.

Through these comprehensive modeling capabilities, our work supports the development of more reliable, sustainable, and high-performance material systems while providing powerful tools for modern structural engineering and material science applications.

Our research advances computational models that support next-generation hydrogen production technologies, with a particular focus on Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis (PEMWE). As the global energy sector moves toward carbon-neutral systems, PEM-based electrolysis stands out as a key pathway for producing high-purity green hydrogen. Despite its promise, the technology faces critical challenges related to efficiency, material durability, and system optimization.

At IBNM, we develop multiphysics numerical frameworks that capture the tightly coupled electro-chemo-hydro-mechanical processes governing PEMWE operation. These models help reveal how transport phenomena, reaction kinetics, mechanical stresses, and long-term degradation interact within the complex multilayer architecture of electrolyzer cells. By simulating realistic operating conditions, we gain deeper insight into performance losses, structural damage mechanisms, and durability limits.

Overall, our work provides a robust computational foundation for designing more efficient, reliable, and cost-effective green hydrogen technologies, contributing to the broader transition toward sustainable energy systems.

Our institute develops advanced physics-based machine learning (ML) methods to enhance the predictive capabilities of computational mechanics. A major focus lies on material modeling for fracture and fatigue, where ML models are informed by fundamental physical laws to achieve reliable and interpretable predictions. These models support lifetime assessment of engineering materials, forming a key component of future digital twins for applications such as wind energy systems and structures subjected to high-cycle fatigue.

We also explore inverse design of architected and metamaterials, leveraging physics-guided ML to discover optimal material structures and performance-driven configurations. In parallel, our research advances scale-bridging and homogenization techniques using ML, enabling efficient transfer of information from micro- to macroscale simulations. Together, these efforts push the boundaries of data-driven and hybrid computational mechanics, aiming to deliver robust, efficient, and physically consistent tools for next-generation engineering applications.

Our institute develops advanced computational biomechanics methods to analyze and predict the behavior of medical devices and biological tissues across their full service life. A key focus lies on the mechanical performance, corrosion, and fatigue behavior of vascular stents, where we model all stages, from deployment to long-term in-vivo degradation, to support safer and more durable implant designs.

We also work on accelerated computational strategies for hip implants and hard tissues, enabling efficient assessment of mechanical integrity, wear mechanisms, and long-term stability under physiological loading conditions. Complementing these efforts, our research extends to the fracture and failure of soft tissues, where multiphysics and nonlinear material models are developed to capture the complex, time-dependent response of biological materials.

By integrating mechanics, materials science, and biomedical engineering, our biomechanics research contributes to the development of more reliable medical devices, improved patient safety, and deeper understanding of biological tissue mechanics.

Our institute develops advanced multiphysics methods to understand and predict the interaction between corrosion and fatigue in structural materials. These coupled deterioration processes play a critical role in the long term performance and safety of many engineering systems.

A central focus of our work is reinforced concrete, where we create computational frameworks that capture the full corrosion fatigue process, including chloride ingress, carbonation, rust formation, mechanical damage, and crack initiation and growth. Using phase field formulations combined with fatigue models, we are able to represent the progression from chemical degradation to structural cracking in a consistent and physics based manner.

We also investigate corrosion fatigue in metallic materials, examining pitting processes, stress corrosion cracking, and their interaction with cyclic loading. These models allow us to study a broad range of practical applications such as offshore structures, bridges, wind energy systems, pipelines, and other components exposed to aggressive environments.

Through these comprehensive approaches, our research provides predictive tools that help improve material durability, optimize maintenance strategies, and enhance the safety and sustainability of critical infrastructure.

Our institute advances the theory and computational modeling of porous media to describe materials whose mechanical and transport behavior is governed by the interaction between a solid skeleton and fluid filled pore networks. While classical engineering applications focused on soils and rocks, modern porous materials now include concrete, metal and polymer foams, architected metamaterials, and bio inspired microstructures. These systems exhibit complex couplings between mechanics, fluid flow, chemistry, and heat, which must be captured across multiple spatial and temporal scales.

At IBNM, we integrate porous media theory into comprehensive multiscale and multiphysics computational frameworks. This allows us to represent microscale pore architecture and its influence on the overall response of the material. Our models account for fluid transport, pressure evolution, deformation of the solid matrix, and coupled physical processes, enabling the study of consolidation, damage, permeability changes, and electro chemo mechanical interactions.

By applying these methods to diverse porous materials, including concrete, foams, and functional metamaterials, we develop predictive tools that support progress in structural engineering, energy systems, filtration technologies, and advanced material design.