Descripción del proyecto
AN EXAMINATION OF THE CURRENT TOPICS IN MECHANICS, FOR INSTANCE THROUGH SOME OF THE MOST RELEVANT JOURNALS (SUCH AS ANNUAL REVIEWS, ETC,), REVEALS THAT DISCIPLINES THAT WERE VERY WELL DIFFERENTIATED IN THE PAST ARE NOT NOWADAYS, THIS IS THE CASE, IN MANY APPLICATIONS, OF FLUID MECHANICS, SOLID MECHANICS AND SOME AREAS OF MATERIAL SCIENCE, IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, MOST OF THE BODY TISSUES BEHAVE AS SOFT MATTER WHOSE BEHAVIOR CAN BE LIQUID-LIKE OR SOLID-LIKE DEPENDING ON THE TISSUE, MECHANICAL DEMAND, ETC, MICROFLUIDICS, THE BRANCH OF TECHNOLOGY THAT DEALS WITH THE DYNAMICS OF SMALL AMOUNTS OF FLUIDS, USES DEVICES CONSISTING IN MATERIALS SUCH AS ELASTOMERS OR HYDROGELS, SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES ARE BEING EXPLOITED NOWADAYS TO BUILD SOFT ELECTRONIC DEVICES, THAT CAN BE BENT, STRECTCHED OR STRAINED SUBSTANTIALLY WITHOUT LOOSING THEIR FUNCTIONALITY, AS A LAST EXAMPLE, IN THE FIELD OF EXPLOSION PROTECTION, MATERIALS ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LARGE DEFORMATION RATES THAT THEY NO LONGER BEHAVE AS SOLIDS, EXHIBITING COMPLEX RHEOLOGIES, SOMETIMES NOT EVEN WELL KNOWN,THE FUSSION OF FLUID MECHANICS, SOLID MECHANICS AND MATERIAL SCIENCE HAS OCCURED FOLLOWING THE NATURAL FLOW OF XXI CENTURY APPLICATIONS, THIS FUSSION HAS MADE CONTINUUM MECHANICS TO BECOME CURRENT AND RELEVANT AGAIN, INDEED, ALL THE ABOVE PROBLEMS CAN BE APPROACHED FROM THE MORE GENERAL FRAMEWORK OF CONTINUUM MECHANICS, ALTHOUGH FASCINATING FROM THE SCIENTIFIC POINT OF VIEW, THIS MERGING OF DISCIPLINES POSES A CHALLENGE IN THE FORMATION OF FUTURE RESEARCHERS AND TECHNOLOGISTS, THAT NEED TO BE TRAINED IN A MORE MULTI-DISCIPLINARY WAY,WITH THESE IDEAS IN MIND, PROJECT CACOME (CAVITATION IN CONTINUUM MEDIA) EMERGES AS A MUCH-NEEDED INITIATIVE TO CREATE AN EUROPEAN NETWORK TO TRAIN PHD'S IN THE METHODOLOGIES AND SKILLS REQUIRED TO SUCCESSFULLY TACKLE RELEVANT SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING PROBLEMS INVOLVING CAVITATION IN THE BROAD FRAMEWORK OF CONTINUUM MECHANICS,INDEED, CAVITATION, THE FORMATION OF GAS- OR VAPOR-FILLED VOIDS OR CAVITIES IN A LIQUID, IS A PHENOMENON THAT IS COMMON TO ALL THE APPLICATIONS MENTIONED ABOVE, IN BIOMEDICINE, CAVITATION OCCURS WHEN SOFT TISSUE INTERACTS WITH HIGH-INTENSITY ULTRASONIC WAVES, AS HAPPENS IN MANY DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC PROCEDURES, BUT ALSO IT CAN APPEAR AS A RESULT OF SUBJECTING BIOLOGICAL TISSUE TO IMPACTS OR STRONG PRESSURE WAVES, A TOPIC OF THE UTMOST RELEVANCE IN THE DEFENSE AND SECURITY INDUSTRIES, IN MICROFLUIDICS AND MATERIAL PROCESSING, CAVITATION CAN BE USED TO ENHANCE CHEMICAL REACTIONS THAT OTHERWISE WOULD OCCUR TOO SLOWLY, BUT ALSO TO PROMOTE MIXING AND TRANSPORT, CAVITATION\CONTINUUM MECHANICS\SOFT MATTER