Richard M. Christensen
Brief Biography

Affiliations

Professor Research Emeritus

Aeronautics and Astronautics Department

Stanford University

Phone : (650) 723-7969

 

Senior Scientist Retired

Materials Science and Technology Division

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Education

B. S. Civil Engineering, University of Utah, 1955

M. Eng. Engineering Mechanics, Yale University, 1956

D. Eng. Engineering Mechanics, Yale University, 1961

Activities and Research

Richard Christensen has over a long career worked in and held responsible positions in

 

Industry:

General Dynamics

Space Technology Laboratories

Shell Development

National Laboratories:

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Universities:

U. C. Berkeley

U. C. Davis

Washington University

Stanford University

 

He has always been active in professional affairs and has held several leadership positions in professional societies. His technical responsibilities and research interests have been in the mechanics of materials for solids, structures and non-Newtonian fluids. He holds four patents, has written two books and 100 archive journal papers (nearly all single authored). These are on the following and related topics:

Properties of polymers (viscoelasticity)

Composite materials

Wave effects in heterogeneous materials

Low density materials (extreme porosity)

Kinetic crack growth

Life prediction and durability

Failure criteria for isotropic and anisotropic solids

Honors and Awards

National Academy of Engineering, 1987

Worcester Reed Warner Gold Medal, ASME, 1988

William Prager Medal, Soc. Engr. Sci., 1988

Honorary Member, ASME, 1992

Nadai Medal, ASME, 2006

Fellow of several societies

Books and Recent Papers

Theory of Viscoelasticity, Dover (2003).

 

Mechanics of Composite Materials, Dover (2005).

 

“Yield Functions and Plastic Potentials for BCC Metals and Possibly Other Materials,” Journal of Mechanics of Materials and Structures, Vol. 1, pp. 195-212 (2006).

 

“Deterministic and Probabilistic Lifetimes From Kinetic Crack Growth – Generalized Forms,” (with Y. Miyano) International Journal of Fracture, Vol. 143, pp. 35-39 (2007).

 

“A Comprehensive Theory of Yielding and Failure for Isotropic Materials,” Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology, Vol. 129, pp. 173-181 (2007).

 

”Observations on the Determination of Yield Stress,” Acta Mechanica, Vol. 196, pp. 239-244 (2008).

 

“A Physically Based Cumulative Damage Formalism,” International Journal of Fatigue, Vol. 30, pp. 595-602 (2008).

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