Assistant Professor

• Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 2008
• M.Sc. in Civil Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 2003
• B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Iran, 1998

Contact information

• Send Email
• Phone: 508.999.8467
• Fax: 508.999.8964
• Office: Modular 1, Room 1
• Lab: Textile 008

Biography

Dr. Nima Rahbar received his B.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran in 1998. He earned his M.Sc. in Civil Engineering in 2003 from Northeastern University and his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Princeton University in 2008. His doctoral dissertation was mainly focused on bioinspired design of functionally graded dental multilayers and interfacial fracture and adhesion in multilayered biomedical systems. Prior to joining the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UMass Dartmouth, he was a postdoctoral research associate at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University.

Areas of interest

• Adhesion
• Bioinspired Design of Materials
• Computational Mechanics
• Eco-friendly Materials
• Mechanical Behavior of Materials
• Interfacial Fracture Mechanics
• Material Design
• Flexible Electronics
• Viscoelastic Toughening
• Biomechanics

AWARDS

• Princeton University Graduate School Fellowship
• 2011 NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award
• 2012 TMS Structural Materials Division Young Leader Professional Development Award

PUBLICATIONS

Journal publications

• Bender S, Chlivendra V, Rahbar N and El Wakil S, Mechanical Characterization and Modeling of Graded Porous Stainless Steel Specimens for Possible Bone Implant Applications, International Journal of Engineering Science (Accepted).

• Mahdi Ashrafi, Amin Ajdari, Nima Rahbar, Jim Papadopoulos, Hamid Nayeb-Hashemi, and Ashkan Vaziri ”Adhesively bonded single lap joints with non-flat interfaces.” International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives, (in press).
• T. Tan, N. Rahbar, S.M. Allameh, S. Kwofie, D. Dissmore, K. Ghavami, W.O. Soboyejo ”Mechanical properties of functionally graded hierarchical bamboo structures” Acta Biomaterialia, 7 (2011) 3796-3803. doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2011.06.008.
• Kwofie S. Rahbar N. "An Equivalent Driving Force Model for Crack Growth Prediction Under Different Stress Ratios." International Journal of fatigue Volume 33, Issue 9, 2011, Pages 1199-1204. doi:10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2011.03.006
• Rahbar N., Soboyejo W.O. "Design of Functionally Graded Dental Multilayers." Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures, 34, 887-897. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2695.2011.01581.x
• Ting Tan, Nima Rahbar, Andrea Buono, George Wheeler and Wole Soboyejo ”Sub-Critical Crack Growth of Adhesive/Marble Interfaces.”Materials Science and Engineering A528 (2011) 36973704. 
• Renata Melo, Rahbar Nima, Soboyejo Wole (2011) ”Interfacial Failure of Dentin Adhesively Bonded to Quartz-Fiber Reinforced Epoxy.” Materials Science and Engineering C (in press), DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2011.01.005. 
• Rahbar N., Aduda B.O., Zimba J., Obwoya S.K., Nyongesa F.W., Yakub I., and Soboyejo W.O. ”Thermal Shock Resistance of an Aluminosilicate Refractory Ceramics.” Experimental Mechanics, Vol. 51, Issue 2 (2011), 133, DOI 10.1007/s11340-010-9345-3.
• Rahbar N., Jorjani M., Ricardelli C., Wheeler G., Yakub I., Tan T., Soboyejo W.O. ”Mixed Mode Fracture of Polymer/Marble Interface.” Materials Science and Engineering A, 527 (2010) 4939-4946.
• Meng J., Orana A., Tan T., Wolf K., Rahbar N., Li H., Papandreou G., Maryanoff C., Soboyejo W.O. ”An Investigation of Adhesion and Interfacial Fracture in Drug-Eluting Stents.” Journal of Materials Research, Vol. 25, No. 4, 641-647.
• Nui X., Rahbar N., Farias S., Soboyejo W.O. (2009) "Bio-inspired design of dental multilayers: experiments and model." Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, Vol. 2, 596 - 602.
• Fasasi A.Y., Mwenifumboo S., Rahbar N., Chen J., Li M., Beye A.C., Soboyejo W.O. (2009) "Nanosecond UV laser Processed Microgrooves on Ti6Al4V for Biomedical Applications." Materials Science and Engineering C, Volume 29, Issue 1, 5-13.
• Rahbar N., Wolf K., Orana A., Fennimore R., Zong Z., Meng J. and Soboyejo W.O. (2008) "Adhesion and Interfacial Fracture Toughness between Hard and Soft Materials." Journal of Applied Physics, 104, 103533.
• Wolf K., Zong Z., Juan M., Rahbar N., Orana A., Soboyejo W.O. (2008) ”An Investigation of Adhesion in Drug Eluting Stents.” Journal of Biomedical Materials Research: Part A, Vol. 87A, 1, 272-281.
• Rahbar N., Yang Y., Soboyejo W.O. (2008) "Mixed Mode Fracture of Dental Interfaces." Materials Science and Engineering A 488, 381-388.
• Huang M., Rahbar N., Wang R., Thompson V., Rekow D., Soboyejo W.O. (2007) "Bioinspired Design of Dental Multilayers." Materials Science and Engineering A 464, 315-320.
• Zong Z., Cao Y., Rahbar N., Soboyejo W.O. (2006) "Nano and Microscale Adhesion Energy Measurement for Au-Au Contacts in Microswitch Structures." Journal of Applied Physics, 100, 104313.
• Alshawabkeh A.N., Rahbar N. (2006) "Parametric Study of One-Dimensional Solute Transport in Deformable Porous Media." ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Vol. 132(8), 1001-1010.
• Alshawabkeh A.N., Rahbar N., Sheahan T. (2005) "A Model for Contaminant Mass Flux in Capped Sediment under Consolidation." Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 78, 147-165.

Conference proceedings and presentations

• Animesh Agrawal, Dapeng Li, Nima Rahbar, Paul Calvert, (2011) "Fiber Reinforced Tough Hydrogels." TMS Annual meeting, San Diego, CA.
• Rahbar Nima, Yakub Ismaeil, Soboyejo Wole ”Visocoelastic Toughening of an Aluminosilicate Ceramic.” Engineering Mechanics Institute 2010, Los Angeles, CA.
• Rahbar Nima, Kotowski Peter, Muir Christina, Wheeler George, Soboyejo Wole ”Material Selection for the Repair of a Historical Marble Statue.” Engineering Mechanics Institute 2010, Los Angeles, CA.
• Bender S., El Wakil S.D., Chalivendra V.B., Rahbar N., Bhowmick S. (2010) ”Fabrication and Characterization of Novel Graded Bone Implant Material.” SEM Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
• Du Jing, Niu Xinrui, Rahbar Nima, Soboyejo Wole (2009) ”Bioinspired Design of Multilayers: Effect of Layer Thickness.” Materials Research Society, fall meeting, Boston, MA.
• Tan Ting, Rahbar Nima, Meng Juan, Li Hannah, Papandreou George, Maryanoff cynthia, Soboyejo Wole, (2009) ”Nano- and Micro-Scale Adhesion in Drug-eluting Stents.” Materials Research Society, fall meeting, Boston, MA.
• Rahbar Nima, Soboyejo Wole (2009) "Bioinspired Design of Dental Structures.", The Joint ASCE/ASME/SES Conference on Mechanics and Materials, Blacksburg, VA.
• Tong Tiffany, Ming Juan, Rahbar Nima, Admassie Shimelis, Babatope Babaniyi and Soboyejo Wole (2008) ”Adhesion in Organic Electronic Structures.” Materials Research Society, Fall 2008, Boston, MA.
• Rahbar N., Wolf K., Orana A., Fennimore R., Zong Z., Meng J., Papandreou G., Maryanoff C., Soboyejo W.O. (2008) "Adhesion and Interfacial Fracture Toughness between Hard and Soft Materials." Materials Research Society, Fall meeting, Boston, MA.
• Nui Xinrui, Rahbar Nima, Du Jing, Farias Stephen, Soboyejo Wole (2008) "Bioinspired Design of Functionally Graded Dental Multilayers:Experiments and Models.", Materials Research Society, Fall meeting, Boston, MA.
• Jorjani M., Wheeler G., Riccardelli C., Rahbar N., Soboyejo W.O. (2008) "An Evaluation of Adhesives Used in Marble Repair", The AIC 36th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
• Jorjani M., Wheeler G., Riccardelli C., Rahbar N., Soboyejo W.O. (2008) "An Evaluation of Adhesives Used in Marble Repair", Holding it all together; ancient and modern approaches to joining, repair and consolidation, The British Museum, London, UK.
• Rahbar N., Huang M., Farias S., Akogwu O., Soboyejo W.O. (2008) "Bioinspired Design of Functionally Graded Dental Multilayers: Experiments", TMS Annual meeting, Orlando, FL.
• Yang Y., Yao N., Rahbar N., Soboyejo W.O. (2007) "Fatigue of Nanostructured Ni MEMS Thin Films", Materials Research Society, Fall meeting, Boston, MA.
• Rahbar N., Huang M., Farias S., Akogwu O., Soboyejo W.O. (2006) "Bioinspired Design of Functionally Graded Dental Multilayers", Materials Research Society, Fall meeting, Boston, MA.
• Alshawabkeh, A.N., Rahbar, N., Sheahan, T., Tang, G. (2004) "Volume Change Effects on Solute Transport in Soils under Consolidation," ASCE, GI, Geotechnical Practical Publication, Advances in Geotechnical Engineering with Emphasis on Dams, Highway Materials, and Soil Improvement, pp. 105-115.
• Rahbar, N., Alshawabkeh, A.N. (2003) "Effect of Consolidation on 1D Contaminant Diffusion in Clay", 8th Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Specialty Conference of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering, June 03, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
• Rahbar, N., Alshawabkeh, A.N. (2002) "Effect of Consolidation on Advective-Diffusive Contaminant Transport in Deformable Porous Media", Northeast Geotechnical Graduate Research Symposium, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA.