Course Websites

TAM 598 ONL - Mechanics of Solid Polymers

Last offered Fall 2026

Official Description

Subject offerings of new and developing areas of knowledge in theoretical and applied mechanics intended to augment the existing curriculum. See Class Schedule or departmental course information for topics and prerequisites. Course Information: May be repeated in the same or separate terms if topics vary to a maximum of 12 hours.

Section Description

This is a graduate level course intended for students with experience in continuum mechanics who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanical behavior of solid macromolecular materials. Constitutive theories intended for modeling the mechanical response of elastomers, bioelastomers, filled rubbers, polymer composites, and biological tissues will be discussed. Experimental and computational methods for quantifying constitutive parameters will be stressed. Types of material responses covered include hyperelasticity, anisotropy, linear viscoelasticity, and nonlinear viscoelasticity. Prerequisite TAM 445 or TAM 551

Related Faculty

Subject Area

  • Mechanical Science and Engineering

Course Description

This course will provide a basic foundation in the mechanics and rheology of structurally complex liquids whose behavior can be modeled as a continuum but cannot be modeled as Newtonian with constant viscosity. Key ideas include rheological property measurement, tensorial constitutive models, flow calculations, basic structure-property relations, and design with nonlinear viscoelastic properties. Concepts will apply to a diverse range of materials such as polymer solutions, polymer melts, colloidal suspensions, emulsions, foams, pastes, biological fluids, biological gels, hydrogels, active soft matter, nano-composites, and inks.

Credit Hours

4 hours

Prerequisites

Undergraduate degree and a general knowledge of ordinary and partial differential equations is required. Introductory coursework in mechanics (fluid, solid or continuum) is necessary. Intermediate fluid dynamics is strongly suggested (e.g. TAM 435).

TitleSectionCRNTypeHoursTimesDaysLocationInstructor
Mechanics of Solid PolymersONL64903ONL4 -    Callan Luetkemeyer