Andrey Jivkov is Professor of Solid Mechanics in the School of Engineering.

His research is concerned with understanding and predicting the in-service performance of engineering materials and structures, particularly in situations where degradation, fatigue, fracture, and environmental effects interact.

A defining aspect of his work is the assessment of modelling assumptions and the development and use of representations that are appropriate to the underlying physical mechanisms and structural organisation of materials. This includes continuum descriptions where smooth behaviour is adequate, as well as discrete and cellular approaches when microstructural evolution, localisation, or changes in connectivity play a dominant role, and classical continuum descriptions become inadequate.

His research spans metallic, quasi-brittle, and composite materials, with applications to structural integrity, energy systems, and safety-critical engineering components. A recurring theme is the analysis of coupled problems involving deformation, transport, and damage across multiple length scales.

My current research focuses on mechanisms governing the initiation, evolution, and accumulation of damage in engineering materials and structures, with particular emphasis on processes that control long-term performance and failure.

Key areas of interest include:

• Fatigue crack initiation and early-stage damage processes

• Microstructure-sensitive fracture and failure mechanisms

• Environment-assisted degradation of materials (e.g. hydrogen, moisture, temperature effects)

• Structural integrity and life assessment of safety-critical components

• Coupled deformation–transport phenomena in solids

These topics are investigated with the aim of improving physical understanding and interpretability of observed behaviour, particularly in regimes where standard lifing or damage descriptions exhibit large uncertainty or scatter.

Modelling and computational approaches

• Mechanism-informed modelling of degradation, damage, and fracture in solids
• Multi-scale and multi-physics modelling of coupled deformation–transport phenomena
• Continuum approaches for solid and structural mechanics (e.g., finite element and finite difference methods), used as effective or benchmark descriptions
• Discrete and non-smooth representations of materials, including particle-, bond-, and cellular-based models
• Microstructure-informed statistical and thermodynamic modelling

Mathematical and structural formalisms

• Discrete exterior calculus and related cochain-based formulations, with explicite consideration of their applicability and limitations
• Combinatorial topology and cell-complex representations of structured material systems
• Variational formulations for transport, interaction, and irreversible processes
• Transport of scalar and vector quantities on networks and cell complexes
• Development of original combinatorial modelling frameworks for transport, interaction, and evolution

My research group works on the modelling of degradation, fatigue, and failure in engineering materials and structures, with emphasis on situations where classical continuum descriptions become unreliable.

The group’s work is unified by a focus on mechanism-based modelling, appropriate material representation, and the explicit treatment of localisation, irreversibility, and microstructural evolution. Current activities span fatigue crack initiation, environment-assisted degradation, and coupled deformation–transport processes in metallic, quasi-brittle, and composite materials.

The group typically involves doctoral researchers and postdoctoral fellows with backgrounds in solid mechanics, applied mathematics, materials science, or computational modelling, and operates through close integration of theory, modelling, and physical interpretation.

I am interested in working with highly motivated doctoral and postdoctoral researchers who have a strong background in the mechanics of materials and are open to developing and using new mathematical and computational descriptions of material behaviour.

Suitable candidates typically have solid foundations in solid mechanics, materials science, or applied mathematics, and are comfortable engaging with non-standard modelling approaches where classical assumptions are questioned. Experience with computational modelling is expected, alongside a willingness to work at the interface between physical mechanisms, mathematical representation, and interpretation of experimental evidence.

Prospective students and researchers should be intellectually curious, independent, and prepared to engage with problems that may not yet fit established disciplinary boundaries.