Pedro Ponte Castañeda
Raymond S. Markowitz Faculty Fellow and Professor
Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM)
Honors and Awards: ASME Warner T. Koiter Medal - 2016, ASME Fellow - 2014, Humboldt Research Award - 2013, Heilmeier Award for Excellence in Faculty Research - 2007, ASME Achievement Award for Young Investigators in Applied Mechanics - 2000
Research Expertise: Mechanics of Materials | Active Materials | Homogenization
Ponte's research is in the area of heterogeneous material systems, including composites, polycrystalline aggregates and particulate flows. In the area of composite materials, he addresses nonlinear constitutive and kinematical effects as observed in low-temperature plasticity and high-temperature creep of metal-matrix composites, as well as in the large-deformation behavior of black-filled and porous elastomers. His group is also concerned with the theoretical development of constitutive models for porous metals, accounting for the evolution of the microstructure, which will be useful in assessing the effect of porosity on localization instabilities with applications to ductile failure and manufacturing processes. He is developing constitutive models for low-symmetry polycrystals, and also working on the numerical implementation of these models in constitutive subroutines. In addition, Ponte's group is developing structure-property relations for thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) and semi-crystalline polymers (SCP). These are multiphase polymeric materials consisting of a phase (e.g., polybutadiene) giving rise to the rubbery nature of the materials, and a crystalline or glassy phase (e.g., polystyrene, or polypropylene) yielding increased stiffness and enhanced large-deformation properties. TPEs and SCPs exhibit structure at two different length scales and there is growing experimental evidence that this dual structure greatly affects the overall response of macroscopic samples. Most recently, Ponte's group has been developing constitutive models for magneto-and electro-elastic materials capable of undergoing large strains and investigating possible applications as active materials, including “artificial muscles,” as well as investigating the non-Newtonian rheology of dispersions of soft elastic particle in viscous fluids.
Member of:
Affiliations: Graduate Group in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science, NSF Partnership for Research and Education in Materials
Education:
PhD Applied Mathematics 1986 - Harvard University
MS Engineering Sciences 1983 - Harvard University
BS Mechanical Engineering 1982 - Lehigh University
BA Mathematics 1982 - Lehigh University
Recent Publications 
- A microstructurally-based, multi-scale, continuum-mechanical model for the passive behaviour of skeletal muscle tissue, Bleiler, C. | Ponte Castañeda, P. | Röhrle, O., Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 2019
- Constitutive models for anisotropic dielectric elastomer composites: Finite deformation response and instabilities, Siboni, M.H. | Ponte Castañeda, P., Mechanics Research Communications, 2019
- Fiber-constrained dielectric elastomer composites: Finite deformation response and instabilities under non-aligned loadings, Siboni, M.H. | Ponte Castañeda, P., International Journal of Solids and Structures, 2019
- Macroscopic instabilities and domain formation in neo-Hookean laminates, Furer, J. | Ponte Castañeda, P., Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 2018
- A multi-scale homogenization model for fine-grained porous viscoplastic polycrystals: II – Applications to FCC and HCP materials, Song, D. | Ponte Castañeda, P., Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 2018