Jan D. Achenbach
Walter P. Murphy Professor
Distinguished McCormick School Professor

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Northwestern University
2137 Sheridan Road, Room 327
Evanston, IL 60208, USA

TEL: (847) 491-5527
FAX: (847) 491-5227

email: achenbach@northwestern.edu

Aeronautical Engineering, Technological University of Delft (Netherlands), 1959
PhD Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford Unversity, 1962

CV
Research link: Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation

Honors and Awards

• 2005 U.S. National Medal of Science
• 2003 U.S. National Medal of Technology
• Member of National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering
• Fellow of: AAAS, SES, ASME, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Acoustical Society of America, American Academy of Mechanics, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
• Timoshenko Medal, ASME, 1992
• Theodore von Karman Medal, ASCE, 2010
• William Prager Medal, SES, 2001
• Raymond D. Mindlin Medal, ASCE, 2009
• ICCES Medal, International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, 2003
• SPIE-NDE Lifetime Achievement Award, 2005

Research: Mechanics of solids; quantitative nondestructive evaluation and fracture mechanics

In recent years Professor Achenbach has developed methods for flaw detection and characterization by using contact transducers, imaging techniques and laser-based ultrasonics. He has also developed methods for thin-layer characterization by acoustic microscopy. Work is both analytical and experimental in nature, with extensive cooperation with investigators from other universities and from industrial organizations on theoretical experimental projects. Work in fracture mechanics has been primarily on dynamic fracture. He also carries out research on structural acoustics and on the mechanical behavior of composite materials.

In the Classroom

Professor Achenbach teaches courses in non-destructive evaluation, fracture mechanics and wave propagation in solids.

Selected Publications