The Grainger College of Engineering
Civil & Environmental Engineering

Oscar Lopez-Pamies

Oscar Lopez-Pamies
Oscar Lopez-Pamies
  • Colonel Harry F. and Frankie M. Lovell Endowed Professor
  • CEE Excellence Faculty Fellow
  • Professor
(217) 244-1242
3106 Newmark Civil Engineering Bldg

Primary Research Area

  • Structural Engineering

Research Areas

For More Information

Biography

Oscar Lopez-Pamies holds a bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering (2001), a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics (2001) and a master of science degree (2002) from the University of Maryland Baltimore County; and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (2006) from the University of Pennsylvania and the École Polytechnique.  He joined the department in 2011.  Prior to that, Lopez-Pamies was an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in methods of structural analysis, mechanics of solids, homogenization, composite materials and polymers, numerical methods for pdes.
 

Education

  • Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania, USA, 2006
  • Ph.D. in Solid Mechanics, Ecole Polytechnique, France, 2006
  • M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA, 2002
  • B.S. in Mathematics, University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA, 2001
  • B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA, 2001

Academic Positions

  • Colonel Harry F. & Frankie M. Lovell Endowed Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2022-present
  • Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2020-present
  • Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2015-2020
  • Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2011-2015
  • Assistant Professor, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Mechanical Engineering, 2007-2011

Journal Editorships

  • Editorial Board, Journal of Engineering Mathematics, Springer, 2023 to present
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Elasticity, Springer, 2019 to present
  • Guest Editor, Special Issue: Phase-Field Approaches to Fracture in the 3rd Millennium, International Journal of Fracture, Springer, 2020
  • Advisory Board, Forces in Mechanics, Elsevier, 2020 to present

Research Interests

  • Mechanics and Physics of Soft Solids; Geometric and Material Instabilities; Microstructures; Homogenization; Numerical Methods for Solving PDEs

Research Statement

Oscar Lopez-Pamies is interested in the mechanics and physics of heterogeneous materials with a particular emphasis on soft-matter systems. He focuses on the development of mathematical theories to describe, explain, and predict the macroscopic behavior, stability, and failure of these materials directly in terms of their microscopic behavior. Specific areas of interest include the mathematical modeling of the mechanical, the electromechanical, and the magnetomechanical response and failure ― by geometric instabilities and fracture ― of unfilled elastomers, filled elastomers, foams, and block copolymers. Other areas of recent focus include the development of numerical methods for nonlinear (elliptic, Hamilton-Jacobi, and hyperbolic) partial differential equations.

Primary Research Area

  • Structural Engineering

Research Areas

Selected Articles in Journals

  • Moronkeji, O., Sozio, F., Ghosh, K., Meddeb, A., Farahani, A., Ounaies, Z., Chasiotis, I., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2025. The nonlinear elastic deformation of liquid inclusions embedded in elastomers. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 200, 106126.
  • Kamarei, F., Dolbow, J.E., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2025. Nucleation of fracture: The first-octant evidence against classical variational phase-field models. Journal of Applied Mechanics 92, 014502.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O., Dolbow, J.E., Francfort, G.A., Larsen, C.J. 2025. Classical variational phase-field models cannot predict fracture nucleation. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering 433, 117520.
  • Casado Diaz, J., Francfort, G.A., Lopez-Pamies, O., Mora, M.G. 2025. Liquid filled elastomers: From linearization to elastic enhancement. Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis 249, 5.
  • de Lorenzo, M., Le Tallec, P., Lopez-Pamies, O., Bussetta, P. 2024. Filled elastomers sliding over smooth obstacles: Experiments and modeling in large deformations. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 193, 105899.
  • Saha, S., Dolbow, J.E., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2024. A Griffith description of fracture for non-monotonic loading with application to fatigue. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 191, 105754.
  • Breedlove, E., Chen, C., Lindeman, D., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2024. Cavitation in elastomers: A review of the evidence against elasticity. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 188, 105678.
  • Kamarei, F., Kumar, A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2024. The poker-chip experiments of synthetic elastomers explained. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 188, 105683.
  • Larsen, C.J., Dolbow, J.E., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2024. A variational formulation of Griffith phase-field fracture with material strength. International Journal of Fracture 247, 319–327.
  • Lefevre, V., Sozio, F., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2024. Abaqus implementation of a large family of finite viscoelasticity models. Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 232, 104114.
  • Sozio, F., Lallet, F., Perriot, A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2024. The nonlinear elastic response of bicontinuous rubber blends. International Journal of Solids and Structures 290, 112660.
  • Liu, Y., Zhong, P., Lopez-Pamies, O., Dolbow, J.E. 2024. A model-based simulation framework for coupled acoustics, elastodynamics, and damage with application to nano-pulse lithotripsy. International Journal of Solids and Structures 289, 112626.
  • Kumar, A., Liu, Y., Dolbow, J.E., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2024. The strength of the Brazilian fracture test. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids. 182, 105473.
  • Wijaya, I.P.A, Lopez-Pamies, O., Masud, A. 2023. A unified determinant-preserving formulation for compressible/incompressible finite viscoelasticity. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 177, 105312.
  • Shrimali, B., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2023. The trousers fracture test for viscoelastic elastomers. Journal of Applied Mechanics 90, 071010.
  • Shrimali, B., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2023. The delayed fracture test for viscoelastic elastomers. International Journal of Fracture. In press.
  • Shrimali, B., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2023. The "pure-shear'' fracture test for viscoelastic elastomers and its revelation on Griffith fracture. Extreme Mechanics Letters 58, 101944.
  • Jia, Y., Lopez-Pamies, O., Zhang, X.S. 2023. Controlling the fracture response of structures via topology optimization: From delaying fracture nucleation to maximizing toughness. Journal of the Mechanics of Physics and Solids 173, 105227
  • Ghosh, K., Lefevre, V., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2023. Homogenization of elastomers filled with liquid inclusions: The small-deformation limit. Soft Matter 19, 208-224.
  • Shrimali, B., Ghosh, K., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2023. The nonlinear viscoelastic response of suspensions of vacuous bubbles in rubber: I --- Gaussian rubber with constant viscosity. Journal of Elasticity 153, 479-508.
  • Lefevre, V., Francfort, G.A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2022. The curious case of 2D isotropic incompressible Neo-Hookean composites. Journal of Elasticity 151, 177-186.
  • Lefevre, V., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2022. The effective shear modulus of a random isotropic suspension of monodisperse rigid n-spheres: From the dilute limit to the percolation threshold. Extreme Mechanics Letters 55, 101818.
  • Kumar, A., Ravi-Chandar, K., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2022. The revisited phase-field approach to brittle fracture: Application to indentation and notch problems. International Journal of Fracture 237, 83-100.
  • Ghosh, K., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2022. Elastomers filled with liquid inclusions: Theory, numerical implementation, and some basic results. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 166, 104930.
  • Francfort, G.A., Gloria, A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2021. Enhancement of elasto-dielectrics by homogenization of active charges. Journal de Mathematiques Pures et Appliquees 156, 392-419.
  • Ghosh, K., Shrimali, B., Kumar, A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2021. The nonlinear viscoelastic response of suspensions of rigid inclusions in rubber: I --- Gaussian rubber with constant viscosity. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 154, 104544.
  • Shrimali, B., Pezzulla, M., Poincloux, S., Reis, P.M., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2021. The remarkable bending properties of perforated plates. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 154, 104514.
  • Kumar, A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2021. The poker-chip experiments of Gent and Lindley (1959) explained. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 150, 104359.
  • Ghosh, K., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2021. On the two-potential constitutive modeling of dielectric elastomers. Meccanica 56, 1505-1521
  • Shrimali, B., Parnell, W.J., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2020. A simple explicit model constructed from a homogenization solution for the large-strain mechanical response of elastomeric syntactic foams. International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 126, 103548.
  • Kumar, A., Bourdin, B., Francfort, G.A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2020. Revisiting nucleation in the phase-field approach to brittle fracture. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 142, 104027.
  • Kumar, A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2020. The phase-field approach to self-healable fracture of elastomers: A model accounting for fracture nucleation at large, with application to a class of conspicuous experiments. Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics 107, 102550.
  • Lefevre, V., Danas, K., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2020. Two families of explicit models constructed from a homogenization solution for the magnetoelastic response of MREs containing iron and ferrofluid particles. International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 119, 103362.
  • Leonard, M., Wang, N., Lopez-Pamies, O., Nakamura, T. 2020. The nonlinear elastic response of filled elastomers: Experiments vs. theory for the basic case of particulate fillers of micrometer size. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 135, 103781.
  • Ghosh, K., Guo, J., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2019. Homogenization of time-dependent dielectric composites containing space charges, with applications to polymer nanoparticulate composites. International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 116, 155-166.
  • Lefevre, V., Garnica., A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2019. A WENO finite-difference scheme for a new class of Hamilton-Jacobi equations in nonlinear solid mechanics. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering 349, 17-44.
  • Shrimali, B., Lefevre, V., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2019. A simple explicit homogenization solution for the macroscopic response of isotropic porous elastomers. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 122, 364-380.
  • Meddeb, A.B., Tighe, T., Ounaies, Z., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2019. Extreme enhancement of the nonlinear elastic response of elastomer nanoparticulate composites via interphases. Composites Part B 156, 166-173.
  • Francfort, G.A., Giacomini, A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2019. Fracture with healing: A first step towards a new view of cavitation. Analysis and PDE 12, 417-447.
  • Kumar, A., Ravi-Chandar, K., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2018. The configurational-forces view of the nucleation and propagation of fracture and healing in elastomers as a phase transition. International Journal of Fracture 213, 1-16.
  • Poulain, X., Lopez-Pamies, O., Ravi-Chandar, K. 2018. Damage in elastomers: Healing of internally nucleated cavities and micro-cracks. Soft Matter 14, 4633-4640.
  • Kumar, A., Francfort, G.A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2018. Fracture and healing of elastomers: A phase-transition theory and numerical implementation. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 112, 523-551.
  • Lefevre, V., Danas, K., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2017. A general result for the magnetoelastic response of isotropic suspensions of iron and ferrofluid particles in rubber, with applications to spherical and cylindrical specimens. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 107, 343-364.
  • Lefevre, V., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2017. Homogenization of elastic dielectric composites with rapidly oscillating passive and active source terms. SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics 77, 1962-1988.
  • Poulain, X., Lefevre, V., Lopez-Pamies, O., Ravi-Chandar, K. 2017. Damage in elastomers: Nucleation and growth of cavities, micro-cracks, and macro-cracks. International Journal of Fracture 205, 1-21.
  • Kumar, A., Aranda-Iglesias, D., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2017. Some remarks on the effects of inertia and viscous dissipation in the onset of cavitation in rubber. Journal of Elasticity 126, 201-213.
  • Lefevre, V., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2017. Nonlinear electroelastic deformations of dielectric elastomer composites: II -- Non-Gaussian elastic dielectrics. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 99, 438-470.
  • Lefevre, V., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2017. Nonlinear electroelastic deformations of dielectric elastomer composites: I -- Ideal elastic dielectrics. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 99, 409-437.
  • Kumar, A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2016. On the two-potential constitutive modelling of rubber viscoelastic materials. Comptes Rendus Mecanique 344, 102-112.
  • Chi, H., Talischi, C., Lopez-Pamies, O., Paulino, G.H. 2016. A paradigm for higher-order polygonal elements in finite elasticity using a gradient correction scheme. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering 306, 216-251.
  • Chi, H., Lopez-Pamies, O., Paulino, G.H. 2016. A variational formulation with rigid-body constraints for finite elasticity: Theory, finite element implementation, and applications. Computational Mechanics 57, 325-338.
  • Lefevre, V., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2015. The overall elastic dielectric properties of fiber-strengthened/weakened elastomers. Journal of Applied Mechanics 82, 111009-1 -- 111009-21.
  • Spinelli, S.A., Lefevre, V., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2015., Dielectric elastomer composites: A general closed-form solution in the small-deformation limit. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 83, 263-284
  • Goudarzi, T., Spring, D., Paulino, G.H., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2015. Filled elastomers: A theory of filler reinforcement based on hydrodynamic and interphasial effects. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 80, 37-67.
  • Chi, H., Talischi, C., Lopez-Pamies, O., Paulino, G.H. 2015. Polygonal finite elements for finite elasticity. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering 101, 305-328.
  • Spinelli, S.A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2015. Some simple explicit results for the elastic dielectric properties and stability of layered composites. International Journal of Engineering Science 88, 15-28.
  • Lefevre, V., Ravi-Chandar, K., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2015. Cavitation in rubber: An elastic instability or a fracture phenomenon? International Journal of Fracture 192, 1-23.
  • Lefevre, V., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2014. The overall elastic dielectric properties of a suspension of spherical particles in rubber: An exact explicit solution in the small-deformation limit. Journal of Applied Physics 116, 134106-1 -- 134106-11.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O., Goudarzi, T., Meddeb, A.B., Ounaies, Z. 2014. Extreme enhancement and reduction of the dielectric response of polymer nanoparticulate composites via interphasial charges. Applied Physics Letters 104, 242904-1 -- 242904-5.
  • Spinelli, S.A., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2014. A general closed-form solution for the overall response of piezoelectric composites with random and periodic particulate microstructures. International Journal of Solids and Structures 51, 2979-2989.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O. 2014. Elastic dielectric composites: Theory and application to particle-filled ideal dielectrics. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 64, 61-82.
  • Goudarzi, T., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2013. Numerical modeling of the nonlinear elastic response of filled elastomers via composite-sphere assemblages. Journal of Applied Mechanics 80, 050906.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O., Goudarzi, T., Danas, K. 2013. The nonlinear elastic response of suspensions of rigid inclusions in rubber: II -- A simple explicit approximation for finite-concentration suspensions. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 61, 19-37.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O., Goudarzi, T., Nakamura, T. 2013. The nonlinear elastic response of suspensions of rigid inclusions in rubber: I -- An exact result for dilute suspensions. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 61, 1-18.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O., Ponte Castaneda, P., Idiart, M.I. 2012. Effects of internal pore pressure on closed-cell elastomeric foams. International Journal of Solids and Structures 49, 2793-2798.
  • Bertoldi, K., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2012. Some remarks on the effect of interphases on the mechanical response and stability of fiber-reinforced elastomers. Journal of Applied Mechanics 79, 031023-1 -- 031023-11.
  • Idiart, M.I., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2012. On the overall response of elastomeric solids with pressurized cavities. Comptes Rendus Mecanique 340, 359-368.
  • Nakamura, T., Lopez-Pamies, O. 2012. A finite element approach to study cavitation instabilities in nonlinear elastic solids under general loading conditions. International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 47, 331-340.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O., Moraleda, J., Segurado, J., Llorca, J. 2012. On the extremal properties of Hashin's hollow cylinder assemblage in nonlinear elasticity. Journal of Elasticity 107, 1-10.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O., Nakamura, T., Idiart, M.I. 2011. Cavitation in elastomeric solids: II -- Onset-of-cavitation surfaces for Neo-Hookean materials. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 59, 1488-1505.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O., Idiart, M.I., Nakamura, T. 2011. Cavitation in elastomeric solids: I -- A defect-growth theory. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 59, 1464-1487.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O., Idiart, M.I., Li, Z. 2011. On microstructure evolution in fiber-reinforced elastomers and implications for their mechanical response and stability. Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology 133, 011007-1 -- 011007-10.
  • Michel, J.C., Lopez-Pamies, O., Ponte Castaneda, P., Triantafyllidis, N. 2010. Microscopic and macroscopic instabilities in finitely strained fiber-reinforced elastomers. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 58, 1776-1803.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O., Idiart, M.I. 2010. Fiber-reinforced hyperelastic solids: A realizable homogenization constitutive theory. Journal of Engineering Mathematics 68, 57-83.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O. 2010. A new I1-based hyperelastic model for rubber elastic materials. Comptes Rendus Mecanique 338, 3-11.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O. 2010. An exact result for the macroscopic response of particle-reinforced Neo-Hookean solids. Journal of Applied Mechanics 77, 021016-1 -- 021016-5.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O., Idiart, M.I. 2009. An exact result for the macroscopic behavior of porous Neo-Hookean solids. Journal of Elasticity 95, 99-105.
  • Lopez-Pamies, O. 2009. Onset of cavitation in compressible, isotropic, hyperelastic solids. Journal of Elasticity 94, 115-145.
  • Michel, J.C., Lopez-Pamies, O., Ponte Castaneda, P., Triantafyllidis, N. 2007. Microscopic and macroscopic instabilities in finitely strained porous elastomers. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 55, 900-938.

Magazine Articles

Teaching Honors

  • Teacher Ranked as Excellent, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Spring 2017)
  • Teacher Ranked as Excellent, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Spring 2013)

Research Honors

  • Colonel Harry F. and Frankie M. Lovell Endowed Professor (2022)
  • CEE Excellence Faculty Scholar, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2018)
  • Young Investigator Medal, Society of Engineering Science (2017)
  • Journal of Applied Mechanics Award, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2014)
  • CEE Excellence Faculty Fellow, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2012)
  • CAREER Award, National Science Foundation (2011)
  • Young Scientist Prize, European Solid Mechanics Conference (2009)
  • Thesis Award Finalist of ParisTech (top 9 among 514 theses) (2007)
  • Thesis Award, Ecole Polytechnique (2007)