Irene Arias
Associate professor
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Phone: (+34) 93 405 4181
email:
Irene Arias
Associate professor
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Phone: (+34) 93 405 4181
email:
Campus Nord, C2
Jordi Girona 1-3
E-08034 Barcelona
Spain
•Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, February 2003. Advisor: Jan D. Achenbach [thesis]
•Ingeniero de Caminos, Canales y Puertos (B.S., M.S. minor in Structural Engineering), UPC, Barcelona, June 1998.
Education
Academic experience
•Associate Professor, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (08 - now).
•Assistant Professor, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (04 - 08).
•Postdoctoral Scholar, Computational Solid Mechanics Group (Prof. Michael Ortiz), Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories, California Institute of Technology (03 - 04).
•modeling and simulation of active materials
•fracture in electromechanical materials
•phase-field models of fracture
•ferroelectric materials
Recently, I have focused on modeling flexoelectricity in solids. Flexoelectricity is an electromechanical coupling different from piezoelectricity, by which electric polarization is generated by strain gradients, or strain is caused by electric field gradients. Flexoelectricity is significant only at small length-scales, but could significantly broaden the class of materials used in electromechanical transduction. However, exploiting this effect requires a new conceptual framework to harness field gradients.
Selected recent publications
“Fracture toughening and toughness asymmetry induced by flexoelectricity”, Phys. Rev. B (2015).
“Constructive and Destructive Interplay between Piezoelectricity and Flexoelectricity in Flexural Sensors and Actuators”, J. Applied Mechanics (2015).
“Phase-field modeling of the coupled microstructure and fracture evolution in ferroelectric single crystals”, Acta Materialia (2011).
“Computational evaluation of the flexoelectric effect in dielectric solids”, J. Applied Physics (2014).
“Conducting crack propagation driven by electric fields in ferroelectric ceramics”, Acta Materialia (2013).
“Numerical simulation of intergranular and transgranular crack propagation in ferroelectric polycrystals”, Int J Fracture (2012).
Research Interests