Damage Science and Mechanics Laboratory

200 Hancock Hall

Phone: (540) 231-4870

Person in charge: Duke
Contact: Dr. Duke, (540) 231-6063

Damage science and mechanics is concerned with understanding what causes damage, how it develops, and how to evaluate the effects it will have on performance of components. Understanding damage and its effects is an essential element of sustainment of critical structures and systems.

In our DSM Lab at Virginia Tech, we focus our efforts on developing methods for detecting and monitoring damage to support the development of models for predicting performance of degraded components or for input to fully developed models used for prognosis or maintenance decision-making. Areas of emphasis at present include damage development prior to macro crack formation in metal alloys and service-induced damage development in advanced composite materials.