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Home Mechanical Engineering Research Fatemi Research

Ali Fatemi

Fatemi headshot Ring Companies Endowed Professor and Department Chair
Email: afatemi@memphis.edu 
Office: Engineering Science Building 312A
Research Areas
Fatigue and Fracture of Materials and Structures
Research Area Specifics
  • Fatigue of materials and structures
  • Fracture mechanics
  • Additive manufacturing
Brief Description
Dr. Fatemi's primary research interests involve materials mechanical behavior in general and fatigue and fracture mechanics in particular. He has published over 250 refereed papers dealing with these topics, both at the basic level helping to understand fundamental fatigue damage mechanisms, as well as in the applied areas facilitating applications to the design and life prediction of engineering components and structures.
Research Laboratory Name
Fatigue and Fracture Research Laboratory
Research Laboratory
The Fatigue and Fracture Research Laboratory is located in the Engineering Science building in ES 115 and houses state-of-the-art facilities for conducting material fatigue and fracture experiments. The equipment includes three servo-hydraulic material testing systems, two of them with axial load frame capacities of 10 kN and 50 kN, and another with multiaxial axial-torsion loading capability with 100 kN axial load and 1000 N.m torque capacities. Other instruments include digital scanning microscope, digital image correlation (DIC) system, environmental chamber, as well as other equipment and instruments.
Research Applications
  • Automotive and aerospace industries
  • Biomedical devices
  • Any component or structure subject to cyclic loads
Brief Description
More that 50% of all mechanical failures are attributed to fatigue fractures. All materials can suffer from fatigue failure, including metals, polymers, elastomers, ceramics, and composites. Most engineering structures are subjected to cyclic loading, therefore, fatigue failure is a major design consideration.
Research Sponsors
  • Application of fracture mechanics to assessment of defects in cast steel, Steel Foundry Society of America, 2022-2023
  • Fatigue life prediction of welded components, Hyundai Motor Company, 2021-2023
  • Fatigue damage assessment and life prediction of additive manufactured metals, Office of Naval Research, 2020-2024.