Eric Johnson

Structures and Materials

1994-present, Professor, 1986-1994, Associate Professor, 1981-1986, Assistant Professor of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Graduate Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant in Applied Mechanics and Engineering Science, the University of Michigan; 1968-1973, Research Engineer, Analytic Laboratory, Research and Development Department, Sperry Rand Corporation.

AOE Chair of Promotion and Tenure Committee; AOE Graduate Committee; Faculty Senate; Administrative Board for the Center for Composite Materials and Structure; Co-chair of the 4th (April, 1995) and 5th (October, 1996) conferences of the Center for Adhesives and Sealant Science (CASS) and the Center for Composite Materials and Structures (CCMS) held at Virginia Tech; Technical co-chair of Session DES 1 ``Composites and Design,'' 35th Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, 1995.

Composite Structures and Materials

Research in the mechanics of the response and failure of advanced composite material structures with applications to flight, marine, and land vehicles. Specific expertise in buckling and postbuckling of plates and shells, and progressive failure analyses and energy absorption. Examples of current projects include: the progressive failure analysis of tape and textile composite structures using decohesion finite elements to model crack initiation and propagation, nonlinear response and failure of bonded joints, and nonlinear finite element analysis and design studies of ribbed, conical shells made of high impact polystyrene.