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People Norman Laws

Emeritus Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science


Phone: 412-624-9784
Fax: 412-624-4846

Education

PhD, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, 1967

Professional Interests

Norman Laws's interests are in theoretical and applied mechanics, stress analysis, and fracture mechanics, with special reference to advanced composites. He has acted as a consultant to many universities, government agencies, and industrial companies.

Selected Publications

"The Fiber-Matrix Interface Crack" (joint paper with R. Chao), ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics, 64, 992–999, 1997.

"Closure of an Arc Crack" (joint paper with R. Chao), pp 113–124, Nonlinear Elasticity and Theoretical Mechanics (ed. P.M. Naghdi, A.J.M. Spencer, and A.H. England), Oxford Science Publications, 1994.

"Closure of an Arc Crack in an Isotropic Homogeneous Material Due to Uniaxial Loading" (joint paper with R. Chao), Quart. J. Mech. Appl. Math. 45, 629–640, 1992.

"The Effect of Microcracks on Energy Density," Proc. International Symposium on the Mechanics and Physics of Energy Density (ed. G.C. Sih and E.E. Gdoutos), Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, Chapter 13, 189–195, 1991.

"The Effect of Microcracks on the Response of Brittle Solids" (joint paper with J.R. Brockenbrough), in Yielding, Damage and Failure of Anisotropic Solids, Proc. of IUTAM/ISC Symposium, Antoni Sawczuk in Memoriam (ed. J.P. Boehler, Mechanical Engineering Publications Ltd., London), 589–605, 1990.

"Loss of Stiffness Due to Microcracking in Unidirectional Ceramic Matrix Composites" (joint paper with R. Chao), Damage Mechanics in Engineering Materials, ASME-AMD-Vol. 109 (ed. J.W. Ju, D. Krajcinovic, and H.L. Shreyer), 57–62, 1990.

Curriculum Vitae

Laws joined the department in 1984. Prior to his appointment in this department, he held posts in several universities in England, the University of California at Berkeley, and Lehigh University. He is an active member of ASME, the Society of Engineering Science, and the American Academy of Mechanics.

faculty

The Department of Mechanical Engineering has 16 full time, 6 adjuct, and 5 emeritus faculty members