Plasticity and fracture of materials at the nanoscales and other emerging/novel systems can deviate significantly from the bulk properties and thus may have important implications if the materials are to be used in real world engineering systems – in terms of performance, manufacturability and also reliability. Nanoscale materials and composites have been known to have important size effects, but today many other emerging materials – due to their novel manufacturing routes, or enabled by them – have combined nanoscale effects with 3D microarchitecturing to reach and approach extreme limits of materials properties. For example, 3D microlattices have been reported to show ultra high strengths but also ultra light weight. Recently, biomimetic 3D-multi hierarchy materials have also received much attention as the 3D microarchitecture enabled by additive manufacturing can significantly enhance the fracture toughness of the materials/nanocomposites through unique mechanisms while maintaining very light weight. The focus of this symposium will be on recent advances in the in situ experimentation aspects of plasticity and fracture, especially ones that crucially enable the development and design of emerging/extreme materials and nanocomposite (nanoscale, 3D/4D-printed, biomimetic/composites, strain-engineered,etc.) with enhanced mechanical properties reaching or approaching the extreme limits of materials properties. However, all fundamental studies on mechanical properties of nanoscale/extreme materials and nanocomposites including ex-situ and in-situ SEM/TEM, synchrotron X-ray experiments as well as modeling and simulations on relevant length scales will be addressed. Nanomaterials/nanocomposites of interest will consist of metals, ceramics, polymers, amorphous materials and their derivative containing carbon based materials.

composite ductility fracture toughness