| Ph.D. | Aeronautics | California Institute of Technology | 2001 |
| M.S. | Aeronautics | California Institute of Technology | 1997 |
| B.S. | Mechanical Engineering | University of Technology of Compiègne | 1997 |
Computational Solid Mechanics, mesh generation and adaptive meshing, constitutive modeling, dynamic failure and damage mechanisms, nanotribology, nanocrystalline materials.
Professor Molinari's current research projects include the modeling of the dynamic behavior of advanced ceramic and metallic systems. Professor Molinari has developed numerical methods to investigate microcracking and shear banding damage in materials under intense dynamic loads. The correlation between fragmentation statistics and defects is being investigated. Another active research area in Professor Molinari's laboratory is nanotribology and the link between adhesion at small length scales and macroscopic frictional forces. A multiscale approach is currently being developed to account for adhesive forces at contacting asperities. A final area of interest is nanocrystalline materials. Professor Molinari uses an atomistic-enriched finite-element method to capture grain boundary sliding and diffusion in nanocrystalline metals. Particular emphasis is being put on the collective deformation mechanisms of grains and their incidence on macroscopic behavior.
More details are provided at the Computational Solid Mechanics Group homepage.