faculty.Tod Laursen

Tod A. Laursen, Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Education

Tod Laursen received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University in 1992. His earlier degrees were an M.S. from Stanford in 1989 and a B.S. from Oregon State University in 1986. Before joining the Duke faculty in 1992, Dr. Laursen worked as a solid mechanics analyst at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1986 to 1992. He had obtained previous structural analysis experience while working for Boeing in 1985.

At Duke, Dr. Laursen teaches undergraduate courses in engineering computing and engineering science and teaches graduate courses in continuum mechanics, engineering analysis, finite element methods, and the use of finite element methods for the solution of nonlinear problems. His research activities fall largely under these same categories, with a special interest in the modeling of physical systems exhibiting contact and friction phenomena in the presence of large deformations, inelasticity, and other sources of nonlinearity. Applications for this work are to be found in such diverse settings as crashworthiness evaluation for automobiles, wear characterization, metal forming applications, and the geophysical description of slip propagation in fault zones.

Dr. Laursen's published work appears in such journals as the Journal of Applied Mechanics, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, Journal of Materials Research, International Journal of Solids and Structures, Computers and Structures, and Communications in Numerical Methods in Engineering.

Education

• Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 1992
• M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 1989
• B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Oregon State University, 1986

Professional Experience

• Senior Associate Dean for Education, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University (2003-present)
• Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University (2003-present)
• Yoh Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University (1999-2003)
• Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University (1998-1999)
• Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University (1992-1998)
• Engineer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1986-1992)
• Summer Research Engineer, Boeing Commercial Airplane Company (1985)

Sample Publications [complete publication list]

Laursen, T.A. (2002), Computational Contact and Impact Mechanics: Fundamentals of Modeling Interfacial Phenomena in Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.

Puso, M.A. & T.A. Laursen (2002), "A 3D Contact Smoothing Method Using Gregory Patches,'' International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 54, 1161-1194.

Meng, X.N. & T.A. Laursen (2002), "Energy Consistent Algorithms for Dynamic Finite Deformation Plasticity,'' Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 191, 1639-1675.

Laursen, T.A. & V.G. Oancea (1997), "On the Constitutive Modeling and Finite Element Computation of Rate Dependent Frictional Sliding in Large Deformations,'' Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 143, 197-227.

Laursen, T.A. & J.C. Simo (1993), "A Continuum-Based Finite Element Formulation for the Implicit Solution of Multibody, Large Deformation Frictional Contact Problems," International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 36, 3451-3485.

Courses Taught

• EGR 10. Introduction to Engineering
• EGR 75L. Mechanics of Solids
• CE 122L. Fluid Mechanics
• CE 175. Analytical and Computational Solid Mechanics
• CE 202. Continuum Mechanics
• CE 251. Engineering Analysis and Computational Mechanics
• CE 254. Introduction to Finite Element Method
• CE 255. Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis

Honors and Awards

• Mary Milus Yoh and Harold L. Yoh, Jr. Endowed Chair, 1999-2003
• Membership in the Bass Society of Fellows, Duke University, 1999-present
• Oregon State University Council of Outstanding Early Career Engineers Award, 1998
• Hunt Faculty Scholar, Duke University School of Engineering, 1997-1998
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 1997
• Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 1997
• The Earl I. Brown II Outstanding Civil Engineering Faculty Award, Duke University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1997
• National Science Foundation Research Initiation Award, 1993
• IBM Graduate Fellowship, Stanford University, 1988-89
• Most Outstanding Senior Award, Oregon State University Department of Mechanical Engineering, 1986

Professional and Service Activities

• Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• Member, American Society of Civil Engineers
• Professional Member, American Academy of Mechanics
• Member, United States Association for Computational Mechanics
• Member, Tau Beta Pi, The National Engineering Honor Society
• Member, Pi Tau Sigma, National Honorary Mechanical Engineering Fraternity

Current and Ongoing Research

• "Smoothing Techniques and Consistent Sliding Formulations for Contact Analysis,” T.A. Laursen, P.I., Sandia National Laboratories
• “Improved Numerical Algorithms for Steady-State Rolling Tire Contact,” T.A. Laursen, P.I., Michelin Americas Research and Development Corporation
• "Thermomechanical Investigations of High Speed Machining of Aluminum,'' J. Dolbow (PI) & T. Laursen (co-PI), National Science Foundation
• "Numerical and Experimental Models of Dry Friction Damping in Aeroelastic Structures,'' T. Laursen (PI), H. Gavin & L. Virgin (co-PIs), Air Force Office of Scientific Research