Mechanical and acoustical properties as a research area focuses on characterizing and modeling how materials and structures respond to mechanical loads and acoustic waves, including stress–strain behavior, elasticity, viscoelasticity, damping, wave propagation, impedance, and sound absorption or transmission. It integrates solid mechanics, continuum mechanics, and acoustics to understand couplings between structural dynamics and sound fields, often using experimental techniques such as dynamic mechanical analysis, ultrasonic testing, and impedance tube measurements, alongside analytical and numerical methods (e.g., finite element and boundary element modeling). This research underpins the design and optimization of materials and systems for vibration control, noise reduction, ultrasonic devices, and acoustic metamaterials.
For decades, scientists have observed, but been unable to explain, a phenomenon seen in some soft materials: When force is applied, these materials exhibit not one, but two spikes in energy dissipation, known as overshoots. ...
General Physics
Oct 8, 2025
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45
Flexible pressure sensors can detect subtle mechanical stimuli, making them suitable for use in wearable sensors for human health monitoring and motion analysis. However, current sensors suffer from insufficient sensitivity, ...
Bio & Medicine
Sep 10, 2025
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43
Stress is a very real factor in the structure of our universe. Not the kind of stress that students experience when taking a test, but rather the physical stresses that affect everyday objects. Consider the stress that heavy ...
General Physics
Sep 9, 2025
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112
Solid as they are, rocks are not static materials with constant properties. Even small loads are enough to alter their mechanical properties; their reaction to being deformed is a loss of stiffness. Rocks which have been ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 29, 2025
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61
Researchers in McGill's Department of Mechanical Engineering have discovered a safe and low-cost method of engineering living materials such as tissues, organs and blood clots. By simply vibrating these materials as they ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 25, 2025
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106
School of Physics Associate Professor Elisabetta Matsumoto is unearthing the secrets of the centuries-old practice of knitting through experiments, models, and simulations. Her goal? Leveraging knitting for breakthroughs ...
General Physics
Jul 30, 2025
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100
The mechanical strength and toughness of engineering materials are often mutually exclusive, posing challenges for material design and selection. To address this, a research team from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 15, 2025
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88
The wildest trampoline in the world swings sideways and "around corners." Yet, no one can jump on it, because it's not even a millimeter tall. Physicists from the University of Konstanz, the University of Copenhagen, and ...
Nanophysics
Jun 5, 2025
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35
Juan Casado Cordón, Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Malaga, considers graphene—an infinite layer of carbon atoms—as one of the greatest discoveries of the last 20 years due to its "unique properties" ...
Nanophysics
May 26, 2025
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97
A research team led by Dr. Lim Sang-kyu in DGIST's Department of Energy and Environmental Technology has developed a smart fiber sensor that can detect natural disasters such as landslides in real time. The new fiber is based ...
Nanomaterials
May 19, 2025
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