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John Everett Dolbow

Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
319 Gross Hall, Box 90287, Durham, NC 27708-0287
319 Gross Hall, Box 90287, Durham, NC 27708

Research Interests


Modeling quasi-static and dynamic fracture of structural components, the evolution of interfaces with nonlinear constitutive laws, and developing models for stimulus-responsive hydrogels

Selected Grants


ACRR Fuel Performance Modeling

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Sandia National Laboratories · 2022 - 2025

Collaborative Research: Investigating Crack Nucleation and Growth Under Dynamic Fatigue: Application to Nano-Pulse Lithotripsy

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2021 - 2025

Computational Algorithms for Dynamic Fracture

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Sandia National Laboratories · 2023 - 2024

Plate Fuel Analysis

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Idaho National Laboratory · 2023 - 2023

Cohesive Phase Field Modeling of Fractures in Wellbore Cement

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory · 2022 - 2023

Computational Algorithms for Dynamic Fracture

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Sandia National Laboratories · 2019 - 2023

Collaborative Research: Wettability Control on the Mechanics of Hydrocapillary Fracture

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2019 - 2023

An Integrated Experimental and Computational Investigation of Fragmentation in Transparent Polymers

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Army Research Office · 2018 - 2022

Cohesive Phase Field Modeling of Fractures in Wellbore Cement

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory · 2021 - 2022

Thermo-Mechanical Tire-Pavement Interaction: Computational Modeling and Field Measurements (ThermoSkid)

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Khalifa University · 2020 - 2022

Cohesive Phase Field Modeling of Fractures in Wellbore Cement

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory · 2020 - 2021

Modeling Fracture and Spallation of Oxide Scale on High Temperature Heat Exchangers

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Idaho National Laboratory · 2021 - 2021

Design, Prototyping and Evaluation of Next Generation Public Safety User Interfaces

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of North Carolina - Greensboro · 2019 - 2021

Cohesive Phase Field Modeling of Fractures in Wellbore Cement

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory · 2019 - 2020

Collaborative Research: Computational Mechanics Vision Workshop

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2019 - 2020

Computational Algorithms for Dynamic Fracture

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Sandia National Laboratories · 2018 - 2019

Computational Algorithms for Fragmentation

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Sandia National Laboratories · 2006 - 2019

Computational Studies of Fracture Networks in Particulate Systems

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2015 - 2018

Fracture Integral Routines for X-FEM in MOOSE

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Idaho National Laboratory · 2015 - 2015

Advanced Fracture Modeling for Nuclear Fuel

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Idaho National Laboratory · 2012 - 2015

Transformative Skin: Controlled Electromechanical Instability on Polymer Surfaces

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2012 - 2015

12th US National Congress on Computational Mechanics Travel Grant

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2013 - 2014

Collaborative Research: Membrane Nanodomains--Prediction and Detection

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2008 - 2013

Reduced-volume Fracture Toughness Characterization for Transparent Polymers

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Army Research Office · 2006 - 2012

Numerical Methods for Material Systems with Microstructure: Addressing Structural Response and Multiscale Couplings

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Air Force Office of Scientific Research · 2009 - 2012

Attendees at the Robert J Melosh Medal Symposium

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2010 - 2010

Development of Distributed State Simulators

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2006 - 2009

New Numerical Methods for Transient Interaction of Structures with Fluids and Soils

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by Air Force Office of Scientific Research · 2006 - 2008

Computational and Experimental Strategies for Investigating Failure in Emerging Soft-Wet Materials

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2005 - 2007

Collaborative Research: Surface and Actuation Kinetics of Stimulus-Responsive Hydrogels

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2003 - 2007

WEAVE: Web-based Educational Framework for Analysis, Visualization and Experimentation

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2002 - 2006

The Robert J. Melosh Symposium in Finite Element Analysis

ConferencePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2005 - 2005

Thermomechanical Investigations of High Speed Machining of Aluminum

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2002 - 2005

Parallel Cluster for Multi-Scale Computation

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Lord Foundation of North Carolina · 2000 - 2003

Towards Material Systems with Optimized Fracture Response

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Lord Foundation of North Carolina · 2001 - 2002

External Relationships


  • Elsevier Inc.
  • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  • Sandia National Laboratories

This faculty member (or a member of their immediate family) has reported outside activities with the companies, institutions, or organizations listed above. This information is available to institutional leadership and, when appropriate, management plans are in place to address potential conflicts of interest.